中國手機制造商加緊爭奪印度市場

HONG KONG — The most important market for Chinese smartphone makers may no longer be China.

香港——對中國智能手機制造商而言，中國或許已經不是其最重要的市場了。

For years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have purchased new smartphones. In the process they lifted the fortunes of local handset makers, from the well known like Huawei and Lenovo to the obscure like Coolpad and Gionee.

多年來，數億中國人購買了新的智能手機。在此過程中，本土的手機制造商的業績大幅增長，無論是知名的華爲和聯想，還是像酷派和金立等相對不知名的品牌。

But the era of fast growth is coming to an end in China, where the research group IDC said on Monday that phone sales fell 4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the first contraction in six years. IDC expects no growth in China’s smartphone market in 2015.

然而在中國，智能手機快速增長的時代已經終結。IDC研究公司週一表示，中國一季度手機銷量比去年同期下降了4％，這是六年來首次萎縮。IDC預計，2015年中國的智能手機市場將不會增長。

The saturated Chinese market — more than 800 million people there use smartphones, according to IDC — means fewer new buyers, and a slowing economy means less spending. So Chinese companies are turning to India, trying to catch a $14.5 billion market on the way up.

據IDC的數據顯示，超過8億中國人使用智能手機。已經飽和的中國市場意味着更少的新買家，而經濟放緩又意味着消費支出下降。因此，中國企業正將目光轉向印度，試圖抓住這個規模達14.5億美元並且仍在持續增長的市場。

“It is India first for us,” said Varun Sharma, Coolpad’s chief executive of Indian operations. He said Coolpad, a Shenzhen-based company, planned to use its patents and manufacturing infrastructure to sell devices “at $100 price points for the Indian market and not at $800 or $1,000 price points that global brands are doing.”

“對我們而言，印度市場是擺在第一位的,”酷派印度首席執行官瓦倫·沙爾瑪(Varun Sharma)說，酷派是一家總部位於深圳的公司，計劃利用其專利和生產設施，“在印度市場銷售處於100美元價位的手機，而不是像其他國際品牌在800美元或1000美元的價位。”

India’s smartphone sales are just a fraction of China’s. But as one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world, with hundreds of millions of potential new customers, India may indicate whether a new generation of Chinese hardware companies can grow beyond their country’s borders.

印度市場的智能手機銷售量只相當於中國市場銷量的一小部分，但作爲一個增長最快的智能手機市場，擁有數以億計的潛在消費者。印度或許會顯示出，中國新一代的硬件製造商是否具有向中國以外的國家和地區擴張的能力。

It is intensely competitive, with more than 150 brands. Among the best-selling brands are several indigenous companies with an inside track on local phone habits. Another top seller is a multinational, Samsung, which has deep experience selling across different cultures.

150多個手機品牌在此激烈競爭，在暢銷品牌中有幾家是本土企業，它們更善於追蹤本土手機使用習慣。另一個暢銷品牌是跨國公司三星，該公司在不同文化的市場上銷售手機的經驗非常豐富。

Xiaomi, the most successful Chinese company in India, owned only 4 percent of the market in the fourth quarter.

小米是在印度最成功的中國手機公司，在去年第四季度也只佔有4%的市場份額。

But India is also the only place that has a scale like China’s. Indians are expected to buy 111 million smartphones this year, and 149 million in 2016. And China’s smartphone makers say Chinese and Indian customers have a lot in common: Both tend to obsess over arcane features and specs, and both are highly sensitive to cost.

但是印度是唯一一個擁有與中國相當的市場規模的國家。今年，印度人預計將購買1.11億部智能手機，到2016年這個數字會增加到1.49億部。而且中國智能手機制造商聲稱中國和印度的消費者有很多共同之處：兩者都着迷於手機的一些古怪特性和規格，而且都對價格非常敏感。

At a bustling Sangeetha Mobiles shop in Bangalore’s Koramangala neighborhood, the 20-year-old store attendant, Murthy Lakshmipathy, took careful aim at those expectations.

在班加羅爾市科爾芒加拉街區繁忙的Sangeetha Mobiles手機店裏，20歲的店員穆爾提·拉克什米帕提(Murthy Lakshmipathy)仔細地利用着這種思維。

“See the display and the camera,” he said to customers, holding up a new handset made by the Chinese vendor Oppo. “And here, it’s all unbreakable plastic and Gorilla Glass. You won’t get any other stylish phone with these features at this price.”

“看這個顯示屏和攝像頭，”他對客戶說，手裏拿着中國廠商OPPO剛推出的一款智能手機，“這些地方都是由堅不可摧的塑料和鋼化玻璃製成的。在這個價位，你找不到任何其他具有這些功能的時尚手機。”

Many Chinese companies are trying to make their case directly to potential Indian buyers online. It is a technique pioneered by Xiaomi, which used e-commerce to overcome difficult-to-manage and expensive storefronts and distribution deals in China and now India.

許多中國公司正試圖在網上直接與潛在的印度消費者進行接觸。小米在中國是率先採用這一模式的公司，利用電子商務來克服各種問題，從難以管理的昂貴店面到分銷協議。而現在，小米在印度也採取了這一模式。

So-called flash sales, which offer limited batches of phones to drive up demand and build brand cachet, have rattled the current top sellers in India, the local company Micromax and the South Korean giant Samsung, according to analysts.

所謂的閃購，就是提供限量的手機以哄擡需求，以此來打造品牌的影響力。據分析師透露，這種做法已經讓印度本土的手機企業Micromax和韓國巨頭三星感到緊張。目前，這兩家公司是印度市場上銷售量最大的企業。

The tactic is cheap and effective, said Mr. Sharma of Coolpad: “We don’t need to spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing or building distribution networks.”

這一策略是廉價而有效的，酷派公司的沙爾瑪說，“我們並不需要花費數千萬美元的營銷費用或構建分銷網絡。”

Analysts said companies like his were arriving in their new market at the right time.

分析人士稱，與酷派公司類似的公司在正確的時間進入了這個新市場。

“Chinese manufacturers can find a lot of play in India, which is in the early phase of growth, and they can fight for meaningful revenues and profits,” said Anshul Gupta, a research director at Gartner.

“中國製造商在處於早期增長階段的印度市場上可以大有作爲，他們可以努力奮鬥，以求得到一定的利潤和收入，”高德納(Gartner)公司的研究主管安舒爾·古普塔(Anshul Gupta)說。

Even so, many Chinese companies have set ambitious targets for themselves. Coolpad, which will introduce its inexpensive Dazen phone online in coming weeks, said it aims to sell three million to four million smartphones in one year, and 15 million to 20 million in three years.

許多中國公司都給自己設定了宏偉目標。酷派將於未來三週在網上推出平價的大神手機(Dazen)。該公司說，他們的目標是在一年內賣出300萬到400萬部智能手機，三年內賣出1500萬到2000萬部。

Xiaomi, now worth $45 billion, moved into the top five sellers in India in the fourth quarter of 2014. Underscoring the company’s focus there, the international vice president and former Google executive Hugo Barra recently presided over an Apple-like blowout introductory event in New Delhi for its Mi 4i phone, designed specifically for India. The company says it aims to be the top handset brand in India by 2020.

小米公司現在的估值爲450億美元。2014年第四季度時，小米躋身印度最暢銷的5個手機品牌之列。小米科技全球副總裁、前谷歌高管雨果•巴拉(Hugo Barra)近期在新德里(New Delhi)主持了一場和蘋果類似的新產品發佈會，突出了小米對印度市場的重視。在發佈會上，雨果•巴拉推出了小米4i(Mi 4i)，這是專爲印度市場打造的手機。該公司表示，它的目標是到2020年時，小米能問鼎手機銷售冠軍。

The smaller Chinese start-up OnePlus, which puts equal emphasis on selling in China and abroad, began selling its flagship One phone in December, and has sold 200,000 phones already. It is shooting to sell a million devices by the end of this year.

規模更小的中國初創公司一加科技(OnePlus)把中國和海外的銷售看得同樣重要。去年12月，一加科技開始銷售其旗艦手機一加手機(One phone)，目前爲止已經賣出20萬部。其目標是到今年年底賣出100萬部。

In the path of those ambitions are a host of Indian rivals, each hoping to use local knowledge to repeat the success of Chinese phone makers in China. Micromax, which owns the second-largest share of the Indian market after Samsung, is already adapting to the Chinese invasion, holding online-only sales and making some phone models Internet exclusive.

在實現這些目標的過程中有許多來自印度本土的競爭者，它們都想利用對當地的瞭解來複制中國手機制造商在本國的成功。Micromax佔據了印度手機市場第二大市場份額，僅排在三星(Samsung)之後，它已經開始針對中國品牌的入侵做出改變。Micromax現在也會只在線上銷售一些手機，並且還在製造更多僅限互聯網銷售的手機。

“We have always been the first to identify the gaps in India and have worked toward addressing them,” said Micromax’s chief executive, Vineet Taneja.

“一直以來，都是我們最先發現印度市場的缺口，並且努力填補它們，”Micromax的首席執行官溫內特•塔內加(Vineet Taneja)說。

Skirmishes have already erupted. Micromax briefly won a sales injunction against OnePlus over a contract with the company Cyanogen, the creator of a popular operating system for phones that run Android by Google. The case has since been withdrawn. In December, Xiaomi was temporarily blocked from India because of a patent complaint by the Swedish telecommunications manufacturer Ericsson. And the Indian government’s “Make in India” policy began levying hefty duties on imports in April.

一些小衝突已經爆發。Micromax與一加科技因與Cyanogen的合同而產生了糾紛，Cyanogen公司是谷歌開發的安卓平臺上一個很受歡迎的手機操作系統的開發者。Micromax在該糾紛案中一度獲得勝利，法庭對一加科技發出了禁售令。目前，該案已被撤銷。去年12月，小米也因瑞典移動通訊設備製造商愛立信(Ericsson)提出的專利訴訟而在印度暫時遭禁。與此同時，印度政府推行的“印度製造”(Make in India)政策於4月開始對進口產品實行高額關稅。

No strangers to intrusive government industrial policies, Chinese companies are already expanding operations within India. Xiaomi, OnePlus and the early market entrant Gionee all plan to set up research and development centers there. OnePlus, Xiaomi and Coolpad also want to produce phones in Indian factories.

中國公司對於頗具侵入性的政府工業政策並不陌生，它們已經開始擴大在印度的業務。小米、一加以及早期進軍印度市場的金立公司都計劃要在印度設立研發中心。一加、小米和酷派還想要在印度生產手機。

One of the most successful Chinese brands in India so far, Xiaomi has gone to great lengths to create products catering to customers there. Its new Mi 4i phone costs more than many rivals at about $200, but supports six Indian languages, with local engineers working to increase that number.

作爲目前在印度最成功的中國品牌之一，小米竭盡全力地爲印度顧客打造適合他們的產品。小米的新產品小米4i比大多數競品要貴，價格約爲200美元。但是它支持6種印度語言，其本土設計師團隊還在繼續增加這個數量。

The company has also built an online store that focuses on India’s passions of cricket and Bollywood, and has plans to open 100 stores around the country before the end of the year.

小米還開了一家網上商店，以迎合印度人對板球和寶萊塢的喜愛。小米計劃在今年年底之前在印度開設100家新店。

“We want to become an Indian company,” Xiaomi’s chief executive, Lei Jun, told a local newspaper after the introduction of the Mi 4i.

“我們希望能成爲一家印度公司，”小米的首席執行官雷軍(Lei Jun)在發佈小米4i手機時對一家當地報紙這樣說道。

One recent convert to a Chinese brand is Anusheel Nahar, a longtime BlackBerry user, who bought a Lenovo smartphone for 8,500 rupees, or about $140. Mr. Nahar had never owned a touch-screen phone before, but said the Lenovo device’s specs and cost stood out.

中國品牌的最新粉絲安努什爾•納哈兒(Anusheel Nahar)曾是黑莓(BlackBerry)的忠實用戶，他花了8500盧比(約合822人民幣)買了一部聯想的智能手機。納哈兒此前從未買過觸屏手機，但是他說聯想的規格和成本令它脫穎而出。

“It was priced right and seemed hardy enough to carry around in my back pocket,” he said.

“它的定價很合理，似乎也很堅固，能讓我放在後褲兜裏走來走去。”他說。