蘋果在日本市場取得的意外增長

Apple Inc. is striking gold in an unlikely place: Japan.

蘋果公司(Apple Inc.)正在一個不大可能取得成功的市場高歌猛進，那就是日本。

In the past two years, Japan has emerged as Apple's fastest-growing region, far outpacing its home market and the booming economies of Greater China and the rest of Asia. Japan is also home to Apple's biggest profit margins, and the only one of Apple's five regions where operating profit grew in the past fiscal year.

過去兩年，日本已成爲蘋果增長最快的市場，蘋果在日本的增速超過了在其本土市場和大中華等亞洲日益繁榮的經濟體的增速。日本還是蘋果取得最大利潤率的市場，並且是蘋果的五大市場中唯一一個在上一財政年度實現營業利潤增長的市場。

That is surprising because Japan isn't most companies' idea of a growth market. It has labored through two decades of economic malaise, and is saddled with a shrinking, aging population. Moreover, domestic firms that pride themselves on consumer electronics have kept foreign competitors at bay for decades.

這一情況令人意外，因爲日本並不是多數企業的理想增長市場。日本已經經歷了長達二十年的經濟不景氣時期，並且面臨人口萎縮和老齡化問題。此外數十年來以消費電子產品自傲的日本公司在日本市場一直遙遙領先於海外競爭者。

The iPhone has propelled Apple's success in Japan, supported by heavy marketing and rich subsidies from telephone companies. The iPhone's cachet taps Japan's fervor for brand-name goods, similar to how Japanese shoppers once flocked to Louis Vuitton bags and Burberry scarves.

蘋果在日本取得的成功主要受iPhone推動，大規模營銷措施以及電話公司提供的豐厚補貼支持了iPhone在日本的銷售。iPhone的名氣迎合了日本人對品牌的熱衷，就像日本購物者曾追逐路易威登(Louis Vuitton)的手袋和巴寶莉(Burberry)的圍巾一樣。

'Apple's brand is just overwhelming here,' said Eiji Mori, a Tokyo-based analyst at BCN Inc. 'It's not about specifications. It's not about rationale. It's about owning an iPhone.'

BCN Inc.駐東京的分析師Eiji Mori說，蘋果品牌在日本已經勢不可擋，這與產品規格無關，而在於對擁有一部iPhone的渴望。

Sales got another boost in late September when NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest wireless carrier, began offering the iPhone for the first time to its 61.8 million customers. Even before that, the iPhone was Japan's best-selling smartphone, with a 37% market share in the six months ended Sept. 30, according to Tokyo's MM Research Institute. That's comparable to the iPhone's 36% share in the U.S. in the third quarter, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

9月末iPhone銷量獲得進一步提振，因爲日本最大的無線運營商NTT移動通訊(NTT DoCoMo Inc.)首次開始向其6,180萬客戶出售iPhone。據東京的MM Research Institute稱，即便在那之前，iPhone就已經成爲日本最暢銷的智能手機，截至9月30日的六個月iPhone在日本的市場份額已達37%。據Kantar Worldpanel ComTech的數據，iPhone第三季度在美國的市場份額爲36%。

Apple's iPad also garnered more than 50% of Japan's tablet-computer market in the fiscal year ended March 2013, said MM Research.

MM Research稱，在截至2013年3月份的財年，蘋果的iPad在日本平板電腦市場的市場份額已超過50%。

As the last major Japanese operator to offer the iPhone, DoCoMo is aggressively discounting new models to lure users from competitors, while offering incentives to entice existing subscribers to switch from other phones.

NTT移動通訊是最後一家參與出售iPhone的日本主要運營商，該公司正在大舉進行新款iPhone的促銷，以期從競爭對手手中搶奪用戶，該公司同時推出了吸引現有用戶以iPhone取代其他手機的促銷措施。

According to Strategy Analytics, Japan was the world's fourth-largest smartphone market in the first quarter of 2013, ranking behind China, the U.S. and India. As of the end of September, there were 50.15 million smartphone subscribers in Japan, said MM Research.

據Strategy Analytics稱，2013年第一季度日本是全球第四大智能手機市場，排在中國、美國和印度之後。據MM Research稱，截至9月底，日本有5,015萬智能手機用戶。

Two factors in the iPhone's Japanese success are Japan's wealth and the degree to which its phone market resembles the U.S., a 'postpaid' market where the phones are subsidized by carriers and sold with multiyear contracts. 'The U.S. and Japan are unique in that sense,' says Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Toni Sacconaghi.

iPhone在日本的成功是由兩大因素促成的：日本人的富裕程度以及其手機市場與美國手機市場的相似程度（兩者均爲後付費市場，運營商爲手機提供補貼，並且所售手機附帶多年合約）。Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.的分析師薩科納吉(Toni Sacconaghi)說，這是美國和日本市場的獨特之處。

In markets where most consumers pay for the handset upfront, the iPhone's big price tag damps sales.

在多數消費者要預先付費來購買手機的市場，iPhone的昂貴价格抑制了銷售。

In China, the world's largest smartphone market,Apple's newest phones, the iPhone 5C and 5S, are roughly twice as expensive than what most consumers pay for a homegrown alternative with a larger screen. Research firm Canalys said Apple ranked fifth in China's smartphone market in the most recent quarter.

在全球最大的智能手機市場中國，蘋果新款手機iPhone 5C和iPhone 5S售價約爲多數消費者購買的屏幕更大的本土品牌智能手機價格的兩倍。研究公司Canalys稱，在最近一個季度，蘋果在中國智能手機市場排名第五。

Apple could get a lift if China Mobile Ltd., the country's largest carrier, starts to roll out iPhones on its network. The Wall Street Journal had reported in September that the company was preparing to ship the handsets to the operator.

如果中國最大的運營商中國移動有限公司(China Mobile Ltd., 簡稱：中國移動)開始銷售接入其網絡的iPhone，蘋果在中國的銷售可能會獲得提振。《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)曾在9月份報道稱，蘋果正準備向中國移動發貨。

One unique factor in Japan is the relatively small presence of Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker. Samsung ranks fourth in Japan behind Apple, Sony and Sharp Corp., in part because of a Japanese consumer bias that works against many Korean brands.

日本市場的一個獨特之處是，全球最大智能手機制造商三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)的市場份額相對較小。三星在日本市場排名第四，位於蘋果、索尼和夏普公司(Sharp Co.)之後，這在一定程度上是因爲日本消費者具有對許多韓國品牌不利的偏見。

Apple also is benefiting from the struggles of Japan's electronics conglomerates. NEC Corp. pulled the plug on its smartphone business earlier this year, while Panasonic said in September that it plans to stop producing smartphones for mainstream consumers.

日本電子行業巨頭的困局也令蘋果受益。日本電氣公司(NEC Corporation)在今年早些時候結束了該公司的智能手機業務，松下電器產業公司(Panasonic co.)則在9月份表示，計劃停止生產針對主流消費者的智能手機。

Apple's sales in Japan grew 27% to $13.5 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 28, compared with increases of 12.8% and 4.1% in China and the rest of Asia Pacific, respectively. Revenue growth was hampered by a weaker yen that diminishes sales when converted into U.S. dollars. In the preceding fiscal year, Japan outpaced the other regions with a 94% increase in sales.

截至9月28日的財年蘋果在日本的銷量增長27%，至135億美元，同期蘋果在中國和亞太其他地區的銷量分別增長12.8%和4.1%。蘋果在日本的收入增長因日元貶值受到抑制，日元貶值令蘋果轉換成美元的銷售額縮水。在此前財年，蘋果在日本的銷量增長94%，增速超過了其他地區。

Japan is also the most profitable market for Apple with operating profit margins exceeding 50%, compared with 35% in the rest of the world.

日本還是蘋果最有利可圖的市場，蘋果在日本市場的營業利潤率超過50%，高於其在全球其他地區35%的營業利潤率。