小米華爲崛起 三星手機在華腹背受敵

What a difference two years makes. Back in 2013, Samsung was riding high in China’s smartphone market. According to data from China Confidential, a research service from the Financial Times, a third of prospective smartphone buyers (out of 1,500 surveyed by China Confidential in Q2 2013) planned to purchase a Samsung device, ahead of Apple and other domestic and multinational competitors.

兩年的變化真大！回首2013年，三星(Samsung)還在傲然馳騁中國智能手機市場。根據英國《金融時報》研究服務機構《中國投資參考》(China Confidential)的數據，當時三分之一的潛在智能手機購買者（《中國投資參考》在2013年第二季度針對1500人進行了調查）計劃購買三星手機，領先於蘋果(Apple)以及其他中國國內和跨國競爭對手。

Since then, however, the Korean handset maker’s popularity has suffered a dramatic decline, as it has found itself squeezed from above and below. Its popularity more than halved between Q2 2013 and Q2 2014, and has halved again since, with just 7.4 per cent of prospective buyers in China Confidential’s most recent survey planning to buy a Samsung phone.

然而，此後，這家韓國手機制造商的受歡迎程度大幅下滑，該公司發現自己腹背受敵。2013年第二季度至2014年第二季度，三星受歡迎程度下降逾一半，此後再次下降一半，在《中國投資參考》的最新調查中，只有7.4%的中國潛在手機購買者計劃購買三星手機。

Apple’s popularity, by contrast, has surged over the same period, buoyed first by the launch of lower-priced iPhone models and more recently by the release of the large-screen iPhone6 and 6 Plus models last October — the large screen-size of many Samsung models had been a major reason for their previous popularity in China. Ahead of the iPhone 6 launch, a record 48.5 per cent of phone buyers said they planned to buy an Apple phone in China Confidential’s Q3 2014 survey. While Apple buying intentions moderated slightly in the immediate aftermath of the launch, they have remained strong, with Chinese buyers continuing to be attracted by Apple’s strong brand and the good reputation of its handsets.

相比之下，蘋果的受歡迎程度同期一直飆升，首先得益於價格較低iPhone機型的推出，而後又受益於去年10月iPhone 6和iPhone 6 Plus大屏手機系列的推出——很多三星手機配備的大屏幕一直是三星之前在中國廣受歡迎的一個主要原因。在《中國投資參考》2014年第三季度的調查中，在iPhone 6推出之前，創紀錄的48.5%的手機購買者表示，計劃購買蘋果手機。儘管在iPhone 6推出後不久，消費者購買蘋果手機的願望略有下滑，但蘋果手機的需求仍一直強勁，中國消費者繼續被蘋果的強大品牌以及手機質量的良好聲譽所吸引。

This has driven stellar China sales growth for the US company, with China iPhone sales soaring 72 per cent year on year during the first quarter of 2015, outstripping sales of the handset in the US for the first time. Strong buying intentions for Apple in China Confidential’s most recent survey suggest that this strong sales picture likely persisted into Q2 2015. By contrast, the fact that Samsung buying intentions continued to fall in despite the imminent launch of its heavily promoted Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge models does not bode well; the contrast with the surge in buying intentions ahead of Apple’s iPhone 6 launch was marked.

這推動蘋果在華銷量強勁增長，2015年第一季度，iPhone在華銷量同比飆升72%，首次超過在美國的銷量。在《中國投資參考》最新調查中，對蘋果手機的強勁購買意願表明，這種強勁銷量趨勢可能會持續到今年第二季度。相比之下，儘管三星即將推出其大力宣傳的Galaxy S6和Galaxy S6 Edge系列，但消費者購買三星手機的興趣繼續降溫，這不是個好兆頭；這與在蘋果推出iPhone 6之前消費者購買iPhone興趣飆升形成鮮明對比。

Meanwhile, at the lower end, Samsung has found itself increasingly outplayed by lower-cost Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi, both of which make and sell feature-rich handsets using the same Android operating system as Samsung phones but at significantly lower prices. The cheapest model in Samsung’s popular Galaxy series retails in China for around Rmb2,000 ($322), whereas both Xiaomi and Huawei sell smartphone handsets for about half this price. In China Confidential’s most recent survey, 20.8 per cent of respondents said they planned to buy a Huawei phone, up more than 100 per cent year on year, while 10.1 per cent planned to buy a Xiaomi handset, ranking it ahead of Samsung for the first time in the survey.

與此同時，在較低端智能手機領域，三星發現自己正日益被華爲(Huawei)和小米(Xiaomi)等中國成本較低的手機制造商趕超，華爲和小米生產和銷售功能豐富的智能手機，都採用與三星手機一樣的安卓(Android)操作系統，但價格卻低得多。在頗受歡迎的三星Galaxy系列手機中，價格最低的機型在中國的零售價在2000元人民幣（合322美元）左右，而小米和華爲銷售的智能手機價格爲三星價格的一半左右。在《中國投資參考》的最新調查中，20.8%的受訪者表示，他們計劃購買華爲手機，同比增加逾一倍，10.1%的受訪者計劃購買小米手機，這是《中國投資參考》開始此項調查以來小米排名首次超過三星。

Samsung is taking measures to address this slide in its popularity, including the development of its own operating system and new product launches. Yet it faces an uphill task to win back lost market share in China, especially as smartphone sales begin to slow as the market matures.

三星正採取措施應對人氣下滑局面，包括開發自己的操作系統以及推出新產品。然而，該公司面臨着奪回在中國喪失的市場份額的艱鉅任務，特別是隨着市場的成熟，智能手機銷量開始放緩。

Apple remains overwhelmingly the smartphone brand of choice among high-end consumers and is aiming to expand its appeal among lower-income consumers and those in lower-tier cities, where Samsung has previously enjoyed stronger popularity than its US rival.

蘋果仍然是高端消費者智能手機品牌的不二選擇，蘋果還計劃增強其在較低收入人羣以及二三線城市消費者中的吸引力，在這部分人羣，三星以前的受歡迎程度要超過蘋果。

Meanwhile Huawei and Xiaomi, and emerging challengers such as Oppo and Meizu, in which Alibaba purchased a minority stake in February, continue to release new handsets and are investing heavily in research and development and marketing.

與此同時，華爲和小米，以及Oppo和魅族(Meizu)等新興競爭對手，正繼續發佈新款手機，並在研發和市場營銷方面投入巨資。今年2月，阿里巴巴(Alibaba)購入魅族少數股權。

The really bad news for Samsung is that these struggles are not confined to China. Chinese handset makers such as Xiaomi and Oppo are increasingly broadening their focus beyond the home market — in particular into India and Southeast Asia, where their low-cost, feature-rich handsets have already won them significant popularity in a short time. Samsung’s reversal of fortunes in China could well play out in other regional markets.

對於三星而言，真正糟糕的消息是，這種困境並不限於中國。小米和Oppo等中國手機制造商正日益擴大其對本國市場之外領域的關注，特別是進軍印度和東南亞市場，其低成本且功能豐富的手機已在短時間內讓它們受到極大歡迎。三星在中國命運的逆轉很有可能會在其他亞洲市場重演。