三星Tizen系統爲什麼沒成功

Samsung has made a lot of money selling smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system. So why is Samsung trying again (and again, and again) to build out a competing operating system?

三星（Samsung）依賴谷歌（Google）的安卓操作系統已經賺了很多錢。那麼三星爲什麼還要反覆嘗試構建自己的操作系統呢？

Android, which is open source, is free for Samsung to install on its Galaxy phones, Note mini-tablets, and other connected devices. It allows Samsung to outsource to Google the concerns of planning of future features, locking down security, and maintaining a marketplace, the Play Store, with more than 1.5 million apps. Best of all, it actually earns Samsung a cut of Google’s mobile advertising revenue.

三星可以免費在其Galaxy系列手機、Note系列平板和其它相關設備上安裝安卓的開源系統。三星相當於把規劃未來功能、確保系統安全和維護應用市場（谷歌的官方應用市場Play Store已經擁有150多萬款應用）的任務都丟給了谷歌。最妙的是，三星還能從谷歌的移動廣告收入中分一杯羹。

So why would Samsung bother with its own operating system? Because it can.

那麼三星爲什麼還要大費周章去構建自己的操作系統呢？因爲它能做到。

Samsung has tried many times to launch a phone running Tizen, an open-source operating system it is co-developing with Intel. It has made many promises along the way, such as using the OS for its high-end flagship devices. This week, it revealed that it would instead chase low-end devices in emerging markets such as India—an acknowledgement that, despite its efforts, Tizen lacks traction. (Neither Samsung nor Google responded to requests for comment.)

三星已經多次嘗試發佈運行Tizen系統的手機了，Tizen是三星與英特爾（Intel）共同開發的系統。三星在這個過程中也做過不少承諾，如許諾在它的高端旗艦機型上使用Tizen系統等等。不過就在上週，三星發佈了一款旨在進軍印度等新興市場的低端Tizen手機——這相當於承認儘管付出了不少努力，但是Tizen還是缺乏吸引力。（三星和谷歌都沒有就此給出評論。）

The technology community has long questioned the merits of the Tizen project. On one hand, the mobile devices market is largely dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, with Microsoft’s Windows Phone and the BlackBerry OS trailing far behind. A strong third player would heighten competition and spur further innovation, and Samsung—a massively successful manufacturer of devices around the globe—is best positioned to be it.

科技界早就在質疑Tizen項目的魅力。一方面，移動設備市場很大程度上是由蘋果的iOS和谷歌的安卓主宰，微軟（Microsoft）的Windows Phone和黑莓（Blackberry）的BlackBerry OS只能遠遠落在後面亦步亦趨。如果有一個強勢的老三，必將提高市場競爭程度，激勵進一步的創新。而三星作爲在全球範圍內大獲成功的設備廠商，可以說是一個最合適的人選。

“If anyone can succeed at building that third ecosystem, it’s Samsung,” said Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices, content, and applications at ABI Research. “They make their own CPUs, modems, displays, software . . . it makes sense they would have a strategy to move away from Google, rather than locking themselves into something outside their own control.”

ABI研究公司移動設備、內容與應用高級業務總監傑夫o奧爾指出：“如果說有人能成功構建第三大生態系統，那一定是三星。他們能生產自己的CPU、調制解調器、顯示器、軟件……因此他們擺脫谷歌也是說得通的，而不是繼續把自己拴在自己無法控制的東西上。”

On the other hand, previous operating systems (such as the ill-fated Palm OS) failed to disrupt an apparent duopoly. Less than five percent of smartphones around the world use operating systems that aren’t Android or iOS, according to estimates by IDC, the market research firm. Does the Korean electronics giant really think there’s room for one more?

另一方面，之前一些曇花一現的操作系統（如命運多舛的Palm OS）也沒能打破iOS和安卓的雙頭壟斷。據市調機構IDC估算，全球使用iOS和安卓以外的其它操作系統的設備還不足5%。那麼作爲韓國電子巨頭的三星，真的認爲市場上還有足夠的空間再容納新的系統嗎？

Consider the plight of Windows Phone. Microsoft MSFT -1.48% , no mom-and-pop shop, has just 3 percent of the U.S. market and even less share globally. Or perhaps consider the mobile OS remainders bin: Palm, HP (after buying Palm), Nokia, BlackBerry, and a handful of others.

大家可以思考一下Windows Phone的困境。微軟的規模也不小了，但是它的WP系統只佔據了美國的市場的3%，在全球市場上的佔有率甚至還低於這個數。其它移動操作系統商的命運也都大同小異，比如Pam、收購Palm後的惠普（HP）、諾基亞（Nokia）、黑莓還有少數其他幾家。

So hitching oneself to Android seems sensible. Yet while Google’s operating system is free, it is far from without constraints. For Google’s own apps and its Play Store to come pre-installed on a phone, companies like Samsung must sign “Mobile Application Distribution Agreements” that dictate requirements that Google GOOG 0.50% has for every Android phone and tablet that ships from its partners.

因此，搭安卓的便車似乎是一種合理的做法。不過儘管谷歌的操作系統是免費的，但是它並非沒有限制。比如谷歌自家的應用和它的Play Store必須要預裝在手機裏；像三星這樣的廠家必須與谷歌簽訂“移動應用分銷協議”，在協議中，谷歌對其合作伙伴生產的每一部安卓手機都有明確的要求。

Among them:

其中包括：

o Google will be the only search engine used on the device at all “access points” unless the owners themselves download alternatives.

o 谷歌將是設備上所有“連接點”的唯一搜索引擎，除非用戶自己下載了其它替代應用。

o Google’s search bar will be at the top of the foremost home screen on the phone or tablet.

o 谷歌的搜索欄要被放置在手機或平板電腦主頁的最頂端。

o A folder labeled “Google” containing a large number of Google’s apps and prominent placement of certain apps such as Gmail.

o 必須有一個名叫“谷歌”的文件夾，裏面包含大量谷歌的應用，比如Gmail等常用應用。

Those agreements, according to a September report from The Information, are intended to enforce “consistency in the software experience by device makers.” Even before the newer agreements, there have been “frequent fights about” modifications, “particularly between Google and Samsung,” according to The Information.

據科技網站The Information今年9月的一篇報導，這些協議旨在推動“設備製造商提供一致的軟件體驗”。就在最新的協議出臺之前，谷歌和廠商就經常因爲個別條款發生“經常爭吵”，“特別是在谷歌與三星之間。”

Other companies have grabbed Android’s open-source bits while avoiding Google’s demands. Among them: Amazon (for its Kindle Fire tablets and Fire phone) and the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Both technology companies offer versions of Android that look and feel different from Google’s unadulterated version, yet are close enough at their core that developers can easily convert their apps for use in the Amazon Appstore or Xiaomi’sMiMarket. In China, Xiaomi recently overtook Samsung by claiming 16 percent of the country’s smartphone market. In the U.S., Amazon’s Fire phone flopped.

其它廠商在抓住安卓開源的好處的同時，也避開了谷歌的要求。比如亞馬遜（特別是它的Kindle Fire平板電腦和Fire手機）和中國的小米（Xiaomi）。這兩家公司都提供的是安卓的變種系統，感覺上和谷歌的“純淨版”安卓很不一樣，不過開發者也可以很輕易地把他們的應用簡單修改後放到亞馬遜Appstore或小米商城裏。在中國，小米最近宣稱已經擊敗了三星，佔領了中國智能手機市場16%的份額。而在美國，亞馬遜的Fire手機則失敗了。

So far, Samsung has succeeded in differentiating its Galaxy phones, Note tablets, and other products from Android-based competitors. Daniel Gleeson, senior analyst with IHS Technology, believes Google’s bundling is not really harming Samsung. “Google is simply better than Samsung at building those apps, and of course they are apps that are widely known and loved by consumers. Samsung’s strength is in its hardware engineering, not its software,” Gleeson said.

到目前爲止，三星在Galaxy手機、Note平板和其它相關產品的差異化上做得很成功。IHS Technology公司的高級分析師丹尼爾o格里森認爲，谷歌的“捆綁銷售”並不會影響到三星。他表示：“谷歌比三星更擅長構建應用程序，另外谷歌的應用也很有名，並且深受消費者的喜愛。三星的優勢是在硬件工藝，而不是軟件。”

At the same time, Samsung has been pushing Tizen for use in other types of electronic devices such as cameras, watches, and refrigerators. The corporate market is also an option, says ABI Research’s Orr. Samsung has already made steps into enterprise security with its Knox and SAFE programs; it could conceivably work its way into the workplace where support for popular consumer apps is less of a concern and customization of the operating system is more highly valued.

與此同時，三星也在推動Tizen系統在相機、手錶和冰箱等其它電子產品上的用。ABI研究公司的奧爾表示，企業市場也是一個可能的選項。三星已經通過Knox和SAFE項目在企業安全性方面有所建樹。它完全可能繼續深耕企業市場，因爲這個市場並不在乎有多少流行應用，而操作系統的定製性卻具有更高的價值。

“For Samsung to boost development (it must) take Tizen to new devices, and hopefully own that space,” IHS Technology’s Gleeson said. “Samsung will need to provide some compelling use cases where Tizen can out-perform Android.”

IHS Technology的格里森表示：“三星要想推動Tizen的發展，必須把它帶到新的設備上，並且佔據住那個領域。三星必須展示一些有吸引力的使用案例，證明Tizen在某方面的表現要強於安卓。

The clock is ticking. Samsung announced its lowest third-quarter operating profit in three years on Oct. 6, citing flagging sales of its top-end Galaxy phones, heavy marketing and price-cutting to fight the drop, and decreased component orders all around. What’s more, those results came before Apple AAPL 0.14% launched its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones, which carry larger screens that were once Samsung’s sole purview and sold in record numbers.

時間在一分一秒地流逝。10月6日，三星宣佈了三年以來最低的第三季度營業利潤，其高端Galaxy系列手機的銷量疲軟、爲了應對銷量下降而花費的沉重營銷費用和降價成本、零部件訂單的下降都是導致利潤降低的原因。雪上加霜的是，這些消息的宣佈還是在蘋果推出iPhone 6和6 plus之前。而iPhone 6和6 plus引以爲傲的大屏，一度正是三星以前創下銷量紀錄的獨家法寶。