諾基亞出售手機業務 科技巨頭光環熄滅

Nokia Corp.'s decision to sell its handset business to Microsoft Corp. and focus on wireless-network equipment is the Finnish company's latest attempt in its 148-year history to reinvent itself during a crisis. It also marks the effective end of a national champion and onetime global tech giant.

諾基亞公司(Nokia Corp.)決定將手機業務賣給微軟公司(Microsoft Corp.)，轉而聚焦無線網絡設備。這不僅是這家擁有148年曆史的芬蘭公司在危機中重塑自我形象的最新嘗試，也標誌着諾基亞作爲芬蘭企業領袖和全球科技巨頭生涯的終結。

'This is end of an era in Finland,' Jan Vapaavuori, the country's minister of economic affairs said Tuesday. The deal with Microsoft will have a 'mental effect,' he said, since Nokia long has been an important international brand with Finnish roots.

芬蘭經濟事務部部長瓦帕沃裏(Jan Vapaavuori)週二說，這是芬蘭一個時代的終結。他說，諾基亞與微軟的這筆交易將產生“心理影響”，因爲長期以來諾基亞一直是帶有芬蘭血統的國際重要品牌。

Founded in 1865, when engineer Fredrik Idestam set up a wood-pulp mill in southwestern Finland, Nokia has had a history of radical shifts in its business. The first was at the turn of the 20th century, when the company moved into making rubber boots and other products.

諾基亞1865年由工程師伊德斯坦(Fredrik Idestam)在芬蘭西南部創立，最初是一家紙漿生產廠，之後經歷了一系列業務上的劇變。第一個劇變發生在20世紀初，該公司開始生產橡膠靴和其它產品。

In 1967 the company merged with partner Finnish Cable Works, which had been developing radio telephones for the country's army. Nokia in the early 1980s went on to become one of the first players in the cellphone industry

1967年，諾基亞與合作伙伴芬蘭電纜廠(Finnish Cable Works)合併，後者爲芬蘭軍隊研發無線電話。上世紀80年代初，諾基亞開始成爲手機業最早的生產廠家之一。

It introduced the Mobira Senator car phone in 1982, only a year after the creation of the Nordic Mobile Telephone service, the world's first international cellular network.

1982年，諾基亞發佈了車載電話Mobira Senator。在此之前，北歐移動電話(Nordic Mobile Telephone)服務問世僅一年時間，這也是世界上首個國際蜂窩網絡。

Nokia unveiled its first hand-held phone in 1987, the Mobira Cityman, the same year that GSM was adopted as the European standard for mobile networks.

1987年，諾基亞推出了該公司第一部手持電話Mobira Cityman。同年，歐洲啓用全球移動通訊系統(GSM)作爲手機網絡標準。

But Nokia ran into financial trouble at the end of the 1980s after acquiring unprofitable television-set factories in Europe.

但在收購了歐洲不賺錢的電視機生產廠後，諾基亞於上世紀80年底末陷入了財務困境。

In 1992 Jorma Ollila, a former Citibank executive, became chief executive and decided to focus on telecommunications. That worked-for a while. Nokia's success boosted its share price, and at its peak in 2000, the company was valued at 303 billion euros($400 billion at today's exchange rate).

1992年，花旗(Citibank)前高管奧利拉(Jorma Ollila)成爲諾基亞首席執行長，決定帶領諾基亞專注於電信業。此舉在一段時間內奏效了。諾基亞的成功提振了公司股價。2000年，諾基亞紅極一時，其估值曾達到3,030億歐元（按現在的匯率計算是4,000億美元）。

But misplaced bets would change Nokia's fortunes.

但錯誤押注會改變諾基亞的命運。

Nokia executives predicted that producing traditional cellphones would be unprofitable by 2000, so the company in the 1990s started spending billions of dollars to research mobile email, touch screens and faster wireless networks. Nokia introduced its first smartphone, the Nokia 9000, in 1996-more than a decade before the first iPhone was released.

諾基亞高管們預計，生產傳統手機在2000年之前將變得無利可圖，於是該公司在上世紀90年代開始花費數十億美元研究手機郵件、觸摸屏以及更快的無線網絡。諾基亞於1996年推出了其第一款智能手機諾基亞9000(Nokia 9000)，比第一款iPhone早了十多年。

U.S. rival Motorola Inc. scored a world-wide hit with the thin Razr flip phones, however, and Nokia faced criticism from investors over its focus on high-end smartphones.

然而諾基亞的美國競爭對手摩托羅拉(Motorola Inc.)憑藉輕薄的Razr翻蓋手機在全球大獲成功，諾基亞卻面臨着投資者對其專注於高端智能手機的抨擊。

Former Nokia finance chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo took the helm from Mr. Ollila and merged Nokia's smartphone and basic-phone operations, with the result that the more-profitable basic-phone business started calling the shots. Returning to a focus on traditional phones, Nokia found itself at a disadvantage when the iPhone was unveiled in 2007. As Apple Inc.'s AAPL +0.28% phone gained popularity, Nokia tried to play catch-up.

前諾基亞首席財務長康培凱(Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo)接替奧利拉擔任首席執行長，將諾基亞的智能手機與基礎手機業務合併，結果是更爲有利可圖的基礎手機業務開始發號施令。重新關注傳統手機後，在2007年iPhone推出時，諾基亞發現自己處於不利地位。隨着蘋果(Apple Inc.)的手機越來越受歡迎，諾基亞試圖迎頭趕上。

Nokia's relationship with Microsoft began as Canadian Stephen Elop took the reins of the Finnish company in 2010 and decided to scrap the company's effort to revamp its aging Symbian operating system, opting instead for Microsoft's Windows platform. Nokia cut tens of thousands of jobs, sold its elaborate seaside headquarters in Espoo, Finland, and scaled back research and development, the company's onetime jewel. Last year the company closed its last remaining phone factory in Finland.

加拿大人埃洛普(Stephen Elop)於2010年掌控這家芬蘭公司，並決定廢棄公司試圖改進老舊的塞班(Symbian)操作系統的舉措，轉而選擇了微軟的Windows平臺，諾基亞與微軟的合作由此開始。諾基亞削減了數萬個職位，賣掉了在芬蘭埃斯波(Espoo)精心建造的海濱總部，並縮減了該公司曾經引以爲豪的研發。去年，該公司關閉了芬蘭最後一家手機工廠。

Meanwhile, the handset business has struggled.

與此同時，其手機業務陷入困境。

While Nokia's flagship Lumia series has received good reviews, the company has failed to make a dent on its main competitors, Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. Nokia's second-quarter revenue from phone sales was less than 25% what it was in the first quarter of 2011, when Nokia's tie-up with Microsoft was announced.

雖然諾基亞的旗艦Lumia系列獲得好評，但該公司沒能對蘋果和三星電子(Samsung Electronics)等主要競爭對手造成衝擊。諾基亞第二季度手機銷售收入還不到2011年一季度諾基亞宣佈與微軟合作時的25%。

Now, with the handset operation gone, what remains is network-gear business Nokia Solutions and Networks. Nokia bought Siemens AG's -0.51% stake in the operation, formerly Nokia Siemens Networks, this summer for about $2.2 billion. Nokia also has a business that provides maps to Microsoft Windows devices and in-car navigation systems.

現在，失去手機業務之後，剩下的是網絡設備業務Nokia Solutions and Networks。諾基亞今年夏天以大約22億美元收購了西門子(Siemens AG)在以前的諾基亞西門子通信公司(Nokia Siemens Networks)的股份。諾基亞還有一項業務是爲微軟的Windows設備和車內導航系統提供地圖。