諾基亞大廈將傾,恐將步愛立信後塵(1)
Nokia's deal to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft is not the first time a break-up of the Finnish group had been discussed.
諾基亞(Nokia)達成協議向微軟(Microsoft)出售自己的手機業務，並不是這家芬蘭企業首次討論分拆。In 1991, Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms equipment maker, proposed a takeover of Nokia, exploiting its rival's weakness after the suicide of its chief executive. However, the deal collapsed as Ericsson wanted to split up Nokia and not buy the consumer electronics arm.
1991年，瑞典電信設備製造商愛立信(Ericsson)曾向諾基亞發出收購要約，試圖利用後者在首席執行官自殺後陷入的脆弱。但這項交易最終未能達成，因爲愛立信希望將諾基亞分拆，並且不願收購消費電子部門。A decade later, it was ruing its decision as the Finnish group became the world's biggest maker of mobile phones while Ericsson struggled in the consumer market.
十年後，愛立信對自己當年的決定深感後悔，因爲諾基亞那時已成爲全球規模最大的手機生產商，而愛立信則在消費者市場苦苦掙扎。
Now the roles are reversed. Nokia this week has plumped to follow in its Swedish rival's footsteps by jettisoning its consumer devices and focusing instead on telecoms equipment after a big strategic debate.
現在雙方的處境再次發生了逆轉。諾基亞在經歷了一場重大戰略辯論之後，上週決定跟隨愛立信的腳步，拋棄自己的消費者產品部門，轉而專注於電信設備。The move breathes new life into the fiercest rivalry in European technology. The two companies have continually looked across the Gulf of Bothnia – the waters dividing Sweden and Finland – to check what the other was doing.
此舉再度激活了歐洲科技行業對抗最激烈的一對競爭關係。這兩家公司一直隔着瑞典和芬蘭之間的波的尼亞灣(Gulf of Bothnia)相互注視，看對方在做些什麼。“We always kept a close eye on Ericsson and what they were up to. Of course, we moved a long way ahead of them in mobiles and I guess they followed us closely,” says a former Nokia executive.
諾基亞一名前高管表示：“我們一直在密切關注愛立信的動向，以及他們的業務規劃。當然，我們在手機領域遠遠領先於愛立信，我猜他們在緊跟我們的步伐。”Ericsson has reaped the dividends of turning its back on the consumer sector with its shares up by a quarter in the past five years; even after Tuesday's 34 per cent jump, Nokia's shares are still down 71 per cent over the same period.
愛立信放棄消費者產品市場的決定已經收到了成效，該公司股價在過去五年裏上漲了25%；而即使在週二暴漲34%以後，諾基亞在同期內的股價跌幅仍然達到了71%。The Swedish company got out of mobile phones in 2011 when it sold its stake in the Sony Ericsson joint venture back to the Japanese group. Analysts say that it has become a more boring but reliable company.
愛立信於2011年退出了手機市場，當時該公司將其在合資企業索尼-愛立信(Sony Ericsson)所持股權出售給了索尼。分析師指出，此舉使愛立信成爲了一家沉悶但可靠的企業。That is something that Nokia would like to emulate. “It's true they have had a more exciting past,” says Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia's chairman and acting chief executive.
而這正是諾基亞希望效仿的策略。諾基亞董事長兼臨時首席執行官里斯託•斯拉斯瑪(Risto Siilasmaa)表示：“愛立信的發展歷程確實更加激動人心。”He adds that the board has yet to discuss in detail the prospects for the new Nokia. “We honestly haven't travelled down that strategic path yet. So much attention has gone to devices and services and its future,” he says.
斯拉斯瑪補充稱，董事會尚未仔細討論過新諾基亞的發展前景。他表示：“老實說，我們還未討論過那方面的戰略發展方向。迄今大量精力都集中於設備和服務業務及其未來。”NSN, Nokia's telecoms equipment business, has gone through its own brutal journey. It has shed 17,000 workers in a deep restructuring in the past few years and is now Nokia's only profitable business as well as its biggest by sales.
諾基亞的電信設備業務——諾基亞西門子通信（簡稱NSN）已完成了艱難的調整過程。該部門在過去幾年的深度重組中，裁減了17000名員工，現在是諾基亞唯一盈利、且銷售額最高的部門。
