蘋果欲巨資收購音響製造商Beats
Apple is closing in on its largest ever acquisition with the planned $3.2bn purchase of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker and music streaming operator founded by music producer Jimmy Iovine and the hip-hop star Dr Dre.
蘋果(Apple)已接近以32億美元的價格收購Beats Electronics，這將成爲該公司歷史上規模最大的收購。Beats Electronics是由音樂製作人吉米•艾歐文(Jimmy Iovine)和嘻哈歌手Dr Dre創辦的耳機制造商及音樂流媒體運營商。The deal could be announced as early as next week, people familiar with the negotiations said, but they cautioned that some details had yet to be agreed and talks could still fall apart.
對相關磋商知情的人士稱，該交易最早可能於下週公佈，不過他們警告說，目前部分細節仍未敲定，談判仍有破裂的可能。A deal on the scale being discussed would represent a radical departure for Tim Cook, chief executive of the iPhone maker: under the late Steve Jobs, Apple was reluctant to pursue high-profile acquisitions.
這一正在磋商中的交易規模如此之大，或許表明蘋果首席執行官蒂姆•庫克(Tim Cook)正在考慮激進的戰略轉向——在已故的史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)當家的時代，蘋果很少展開如此大規模的收購。
Apple will acquire Beats’ streaming music service, which launched this year, and its audio equipment business, which includes its brand of headphones and audio equipment. The Beats management team will report to Mr Cook, said people familiar with the deal. Apple and Beats declined to comment.
知情人士稱，蘋果將收購Beats今年推出的音樂流媒體服務，以及它的音響設備業務——包括該品牌的耳機。收購成功後，Beats團隊將向庫克彙報。對這一消息，蘋果和Beats都拒絕置評。A decade after Mr Jobs transformed the music industry with the iTunes download store and the iPod digital music player, the deal is likely to be seen as an admission that Apple needs to look outside its Cupertino labs to continue making an impact.
喬布斯身前以iTunes下載商店和iPod數字化音樂播放器改變了整個音樂產業。外界很可能將十年之後蘋果公司展開的這場收購解讀爲，蘋果自己也承認，必須把眼光放在它自己的庫比蒂諾實驗室之外，才能維持自己的影響力。While Beats commands a leading position in the premium headphone market, its real value to Apple is in revitalising its “cool” at a time when iTunes has waned in popularity and Samsung’s marketing campaigns have savaged the iPhone’s brand.
儘管Beats在高檔耳機市場處於領先地位，但對蘋果來說，它真正的價值在於它能再次爲蘋果帶來那種“酷炫”的感覺。蘋果iTunes人氣最近有所下降，而三星(Samsung)強烈的市場攻勢也威脅到蘋果的iPhone品牌。Apple executives have admitted that its brand is in need of a revamp. Internal emails released during its recent patent trial with Samsung showed that its marketing chief Phil Schiller considered changing Apple’s ad agency after the success of its Korean rival’s “next big thing” campaign.
蘋果高管曾承認，公司需要重塑品牌形象。蘋果最近與三星的專利案庭審中，曾公佈多份蘋果內部電子郵件。這些郵件顯示，在三星的“Next Big Thing”營銷戰略大獲成功後，蘋果市場營銷總監菲爾•席勒(Phil Schiller)曾考慮更換蘋果的廣告代理商。Apple is paying a hefty premium for cool: Beats took a $500m investment from Carlyle in September 2013 that valued the company at more than $1bn. “In terms of acquisitions, Apple has been very, very light in their activity,” said Richard Lane, analyst at Moody’s. “I don’t think they’ve spent $1bn in any of the last four years.”
爲了這種“酷炫”感，蘋果將付出不菲代價：2013年9月，Beats曾從凱雷(Carlyle)獲得5億美元投資，讓公司市值高達10億美元以上。穆迪(Moody's)分析師理查德•萊恩(Richard Lane)表示：“在收購方面，蘋果的手筆一直以來都很小。我想過去4年裏，從沒有哪一年他們在收購上花費過10億美元。”Mr Cook said last month Apple was “on the prowl” for more acquisitions, after buying 24 companies in the past 18 months and he was not averse to large acquisitions.
上月庫克表示，在過去18個月收購24家企業之後，蘋果“正在考慮”開展更多收購，並表示他對於大規模收購併不反感。The Beats move follows a string of high-priced deals in Silicon Valley, after Google acquired smart home developer Nest Labs for $3.2bn and Facebook offered an initial $19bn for WhatsApp Messenger.
收購Beats的動機之一可能是人們在音樂消費方式上出現的變化。根據全球音樂產業協會國際唱片業協會(IFPI)最近一份報告，音樂產業內增長最快的是訂閱服務，這類服務的營收在2013年增長了50%，達到11億美元。One motivation for the Beats deal may lie in shifts in music consumption. Subscription services are the biggest growth area for the music industry, with revenues increasing 50 per cent to $1.1bn in 2013, according to a recent report by the IFPI, the global music industry association.
而另一方面，音樂下載業務的營收卻下跌了2%，至39.3億美元——這是2003年蘋果推出iTunes商店後首次出現年度下跌。目前，iTunes音樂下載服務的規模仍是全球最大的。But downloads fell 2 per cent to $3.93bn – the first annual decline since Apple launched its iTunes store in 2003. iTunes is still the world’s largest music download service.
蘋果也曾試着推出音樂流媒體服務，不過從未推出過不限量的訂閱服務。而iTunes的競爭對手，包括快速增長的Spotify，則提供不限量訂閱服務。Apple has dabbled in music streaming but never launched an unlimited subscription service to compete with fast-growing rivals to iTunes such as Spotify.
2009年蘋果收購了音樂流媒體服務商Lala。去年蘋果還曾推出iTunes Radio，這一服務與Beats旗下的部分業務以及Pandora等其他更爲成熟的播放器存在競爭關係。In 2009 it acquired Lala, a music streaming service, and last year launched iTunes Radio, which competes with elements of Beats, as well as more established players such as Pandora.
Beats的耳機等設備，被視作更具初創性的“可穿戴技術”。在蘋果爲推出“iWatch”智能手錶作準備的過程中，它的設計師和工程師也能從Beats的多年經驗中獲益。Mr Iovine and Dr Dre – real name Andre Young – were inspired to create Beats by the poor sound quality of the headphones bundled with the iPod and iPhone. Beloved by music and sports stars Beats has become a street-smart fashion brand
不過，這比高額收購很可能會讓人們質疑，在2011年喬布斯去世之後，蘋果是否還擁有內部創新能力。Ahead of Apple’s expected launch of an ‘iWatch’ accessory, Beats will also give its designers and engineers access to years of experience in what some see as the original “wearable technology”.
截至3月底，扣除蘋果去年籌集的170億美元債務之後，它在全球持有的現金總額爲1330億美元。自那以來，該公司又籌集了120億美元，當時該公司表示這筆錢將用於發放紅利和股票回購計劃——這兩項計劃總計需要1300億美元。不過該公司多數資金都放在美國以外。自2012年蘋果再次開始發放紅利以來，它在美國國內的現金已減少了160億美元至180億美元。
