全球智能手機出貨量首次下滑
Global smartphone shipments fell for the first time as “iPhone fatigue” dragged down sales for Apple’s once-unstoppable franchise amid a general weakening in the market for new devices.
全球智能手機的出貨量出現首次下滑。在市場對新手機需求普遍減弱之際，“iPhone疲勞”拖累了一度勢不可擋的蘋果(Apple)主打產品的銷售。
After close to a decade of stellar growth, analysts say a tipping point in the smartphone market has been reached as most people already have a phone, phablet or tablet device.
分析師表示，在經過近十年的出色增長之後，由於多數人已經擁有了一部手機、手機平板或平板電腦，智能手機市場已達到一個轉折點。
Applepopularised the smartphone market with the launch of the first iPhone in 2007. The US group said this week that it had suffered a 16 per cent fall in unit sales in the first quarter and warned that the next quarter could be even worse, bringing to an end the company’s remarkable period of growth.
蘋果在2007年推出首款iPhone，催生了智能手機市場的高人氣。就在本週，這家美國集團表示第一季度銷量遭遇了16%的下滑，並警告下一季度情況可能會更糟糕，從而終結了該公司非同尋常的增長期。
“Apple is facing iPhone fatigue and pressure is mounting for Apple to innovate a new wow design beyond its standard rectangle form factor,” according to Strategy Analytics, the market research group.
根據市場研究集團Strategy Analytics的說法：“蘋果正面臨iPhone疲勞。蘋果受到越來越大的壓力，要求它創造出突破標準的矩形外形的令人驚歎的新設計。”
Apple was not totally to blame, however, as global smartphone shipments fell 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 to 334.6m, down from 345m units in the same quarter of 2015. The quarter was the “first time ever since the modern smartphone market began in 1996 that global shipments have shrunk on an annualised basis”.
不過，也不能把出貨量下降全部歸咎於蘋果，2016年第一季度全球智能手機出貨量下降3%，至3.346億部，低於2015年同一季度的3.45億部。該季度是“自1996年現代智能手機市場誕生以來，全球出貨量首次出現同比收縮”。
Strategy Analytics also pointed to the increasing maturity of major markets such as China, which is the biggest country for smartphone sales in the world, and consumer caution about the world economy.
Strategy Analytics還指出，中國等主要市場日益成熟，消費者對全球經濟也十分謹慎。目前，中國是全球智能手機銷量最高的國家。
Strategy Analytics said that Samsunghad shipped 79m smartphones in the first quarter, a 4 per cent fall from 82.7m in the same period last year, but remained the biggest in the market with a 24 per cent share for the quarter.
Strategy Analytics表示，今年第一季度三星(Samsung)的出貨量爲7900萬部，比去年同期的8270萬部低了4%。不過，三星依然是市場老大，佔該季度市場份額的24%。
Samsung’s latest Galaxy S7 flagship has at least supported sales for the South Korean group, with a strong start for a device that has met with favourable reviews. LGand Sonyalso reported weak smartphone sales.
三星最新的旗艦產品Galaxy S7至少撐住了這家韓國集團的銷售，這款受到好評的手機開局十分強勁。LG和索尼(Sony)報告智能手機銷售疲弱。
Of the three biggest smartphone makers, only Huawei, the Chinese telecoms technology group, showed any growth. Huawei remains the third largest smartphone maker with an 8 per cent share of global shipments, up from 5 per cent a year ago, following a 64 per cent growth in sales in the past year.
在三大智能手機制造商中，只有中國電信業高科技集團華爲(Huawei)顯示了增長。華爲依然是全球第三大智能手機制造商，其佔全球出貨量8%的份額超過了一年前的5%。華爲在過去一年裏銷量增長了64%。
A number of lesser known companies are now also gaining market share, with Oppo, a cheaper brand popular in Asia, shipping 15.5m smartphones in the period to take fourth place.
還有多家知名度較弱的企業也在贏得市場份額。在同一時期內，亞洲很受歡迎的較廉價品牌Oppo智能手機出貨量爲1550萬部，居市場第四。
The data from Strategy Analytics were countered by similar research from IDC, which found a slight rise in global shipments from 334.3m to 334.9m.
Strategy Analytics的數據與IDC的類似研究存在出入，後者發現全球出貨量略有增長，從3.343億部增至3.349億部。
However, the IDC data showed the smallest year-on-year growth on record, suggesting that the trend is the same even if the numbers are slightly different.
不過，IDC的數據顯示了有記錄以來最低的同比增幅。這意味着儘管具體數字略有不同，但IDE得出的趨勢是一樣的。
“As the China market matures, the appetite for smartphones has slowed dramatically as the explosion of uptake has passed its peak,” IDC said.
IDC表示：“隨着中國市場趨於成熟，在爆炸式購買浪潮的頂峯期過了之後，對智能手機的購買意願已急劇放緩。”
