華爲擬發佈高端筆記本電腦

Huawei, the Chinese telecoms group, is expanding in the beleaguered PC market, undeterred by slumping sales and the demise of smaller participants.

中國電信設備製造商華爲(Huawei)正在低迷的個人電腦(PC)市場尋求擴張，沒有被PC銷售下滑和較小參與者出局的現實嚇倒。

The company, which has revved up sales of handsets and network gear in Asia and Europe but failed to win over Americans due to fears over national security, is expected to bring out a fully fledged laptop later this month.

預計華爲將在本月晚些時候推出一款高配置的筆記本電腦。該公司近年在亞洲和歐洲擴大了手機和網絡設備的銷售，但由於美國方面擔心國家安全，華爲未能在美國市場打開局面。

It will also bring out a version of the hybrid MateBook introduced last year.

它還將發佈去年推出的MateBook二合一筆記本電腦的最新版。

That device, with a detachable keyboard, is similar to Microsoft’s Surface PC/tablet, sales of which fell 25 per cent year-on-year in the latest quarter, partly due to stronger competition.

這款鍵盤可拆卸的設備類似於微軟(Microsoft)的Surface PC/平板電腦，後者的銷售在最近一個季度下降25%，部分原因是競爭加劇。

“The smartphone business was tough. Getting into this is going to be even more tough,” one analyst of Huawei’s diversification said.

“智能手機業務很艱難，而進入這個領域將會更加艱難，”一名分析師在談到華爲的業務多元化努力時表示。

Huawei is pitching its laptop at the high end and targeting consumers rather than businesses.

華爲將其筆記本電腦產品定位於高端市場，針對消費者而不是企業。

“They are looking to compete with Apple on looks and features,” one person who had a sneak preview said, referring to the MacBook line.

“他們尋求在產品外觀和功能上與蘋果(Apple)競爭，”曾有機會看到華爲新款電腦的一名人士表示，此言指的是蘋果的MacBook系列筆記本電腦。

PC and laptop shipments in 2016 fell 6.2 per cent year on year, totalling 269m units, according to research groups Gartner and International Data Corporation.

研究組織高德納(Gartner)和國際數據公司(IDC)的數據顯示，2016年臺式和筆記本電腦的出貨量下降6.2%，合計2.69億臺。

It was the first time since 2008 — soon after Apple launched the iPhone and smartphone adoption began to rise — that annual PC shipments fell below 300m units.

這是自2008年以來全年PC出貨量首次跌破3億臺水平。上一次發生這種情況時，正值蘋果推出iPhone不久，智能手機的使用率開始上升。

The rate of decline has slowed, and there are pockets of modest growth, including notebook sales in North America and gaming PCs, according to research consultancy Canalys.

研究諮詢公司Canalys表示，PC銷售下滑速度已有所放緩，並且局部市場出現小幅增長，包括北美的筆記本電腦銷售，以及遊戲電腦銷售。

“Expanding their PC business is probably the next logical step,” Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys, said.

“擴大PC業務很可能是華爲下一個合乎邏輯的步驟，”Canalys分析師本·斯坦頓(Ben Stanton)表示。

“It’s probably the only hole in their portfolio.”

“這很可能是他們的產品組合中唯一的漏洞。”

Huawei pointed yesterday to the strength of its smartphone business — reporting that it shipped 35m handsets in the first quarter, up 22 per cent year-on-year and giving it a 10 per cent share, according to IDC.

華爲昨日指出，其智能手機業務表現強勁。根據IDC表示，該公司報告第一季度手機出貨量達到3500萬部，同比增長22%，市場份額達到10%。

Winning business customers’ trust in a PC device would be vital to its success, said Mr Stanton, noting that Dell and HP spent decades building up reputations.

斯坦頓表示，贏得企業客戶對PC設備的信任，對於華爲的成功將是至關重要的。他指出，戴爾(Dell)和惠普(HP)都花了數十年時間打造聲譽。

Huawei lacks a wealth of partners and distribution channels, “so is at a huge disadvantage in that respect”.

華爲缺乏大量的合作伙伴和分銷渠道，“因而在這方面處於極大的劣勢”。