安卓生態圈的"去谷歌"之戰

The phone in your pocket is probably an Android device, and if you live in a western country, it is almost certainly running the Google version of Android and thus is bristling with Google’s services: Gmail, YouTube, Docs and more.

你口袋裏的手機可能是一部安卓(Android)手機，如果你居住在一個西方國家，你手機上運行的幾乎肯定是谷歌(Google)版的安卓操作系統，上面安裝有Gmail、YouTube、Docs等各種谷歌服務。

The raw figures for Android’s market share make it look as though Google dominates the smartphone world: of the 301.3m smartphones shipped in the second quarter of this year, 84.7 per cent were Android devices, up from 79.6 per cent in 2013, according to analysts IDC. But those figures hide a more complex story about how difficult it is to build an ecosystem and bring customers into it.

從有關安卓市場份額的粗略數據來看，谷歌似乎在智能手機領域佔據着主導地位。IDC的數據顯示，在今年二季度發貨的3.013億部智能手機中，安卓手機的佔比爲84.7%，高於2013年的79.6%。但這些數字掩蓋了一個更復雜的情況：建立一個生態系統並吸引用戶進入這個系統是多麼困難。

The next biggest player on the mobile OS scene is Apple, which in September made a bold bid to draw users further into its clutches with the launch of a wearable device, the Apple Watch, and, more importantly, its Apple Pay system.

在移動操作系統領域，市場排名第二的是蘋果(Apple)。9月，蘋果推出了一款可穿戴設備Apple Watch，更重要的是還推出了Apple Pay系統，這一大膽舉動旨在進一步把用戶拉入自己的陣營。

Apple’s iOS has been losing market share, according to IDC: in the second quarter of this year, it accounted for 11.7 per cent of mobile device shipments, down from 13 per cent in the same quarter last year. Apple’s early-mover advantage has been eclipsed by the roaring success of Android.

IDC數據顯示，蘋果iOS系統的市場份額在不斷縮小，今年二季度，iOS系統手機僅佔智能手機發貨量的11.7%，低於去年同期的13%。安卓系統的大獲成功，令蘋果的先發優勢蕩然無存。

Google maintains and develops the “official” version of Android, but the operating system itself is open-source, which means anyone can fiddle with it, change it, add to it and take bits away, as Amazon and Nokia, for example, have done with their operating systems have done with their operating systems for, respectively, the Kindle Fire and the Nokia X range.

谷歌維護並開發“官方版”安卓，但該系統本身是開源的，這意味着任何人都可以對之進行修改，例如，亞馬遜(Amazon)和諾基亞(Nokia)對Kindle Fire和Nokia X系列搭載的安卓操作系統都做了自己的改動。

Google leads the Android Open Handset Alliance, an association of device-makers such as Sony, LG, Samsung and Lenovo, mobile operators such as T-Mobile and Vodafone as well as chipmakers Arm, Qualcomm and Intel, and software companies, including eBay and, of course, Google.

谷歌領導着安卓“開放手機聯盟”(Open Handset Alliance,OHA)，該聯盟的成員包括索尼(Sony)、LG、三星(Samsung)和聯想(Lenovo)等設備製造商，T-Mobile和沃達豐(Vodafone)等移動運營商，安謀(Arm)、高通(Qualcomm)和英特爾(Intel)等芯片製造商，以及eBay等軟件公司，當然也包括谷歌。

In return for membership of the OHA, members can create devices that Google will license its services to. It is important to note that while Android itself is open-source and free to use, Google’s services are not. Members of the alliance also pledge not to “fork” Android – in other words, create their own versions that exclude Google services.

聯盟成員開發的設備，谷歌將授權其使用谷歌的服務。有必要指出，儘管安卓系統本身是開源的，可以免費使用，但谷歌的服務就不一樣了。聯盟成員也承諾不“分化”(fork)安卓系統——換言之，不開發排除谷歌服務的安卓版本。

This is all great for Google, as it means its data-collecting apparatus, with its access to your email, searches, location data and so on, is in the hands of millions of people to whom “relevant” adverts can be directed.

這對谷歌很有利，因爲這意味着，其數據收集設備——可以讀取你的電郵、搜索記錄、位置數據等信息——可以到達大量用戶手中，在此基礎上就可以向用戶投放有針對性的廣告。

There is, however, a big part of the Android ecosystem that is nothing to do with Google. This is most significant in China, where Google and its services are persona non grata. But there are also trouble spots on the radar outside China that should worry Google.

然而，安卓生態系統中有很大一部分跟谷歌毫無關係，這一點在谷歌及其服務不受歡迎的中國表現得最爲明顯。但在中國以外地區也有一些問題值得谷歌擔憂。

Google’s biggest concern is Samsung. The search giant’s relations with the South Korean smartphone maker have been strained, as Samsung has fired warning shots that indicate it probably doesn’t need Google as much as Google needs Samsung, which is by far the biggest vendor of Android OHA devices.

谷歌最該擔心的是三星。這家搜索巨頭與該韓國智能手機制造商的關係變得緊張，三星已經放了一聲警示槍，暗示其對谷歌的需要可能小於谷歌對其的需要。三星是OHA中最大的安卓設備廠商。

Samsung has been tinkering with an alternative operating system, Tizen, and includes its own mail and other services alongside Google’s on its Galaxy Android devices. In theory, Samsung could drop Google’s version of Android and focus on developing Tizen further or move to the non-Google version of Android.

三星一直在鼓搗一個替代操作系統Tizen，而且其Galaxy安卓設備上除裝有谷歌服務，也置入了三星自己的郵件等服務。理論上，三星可以放棄谷歌版安卓系統，集中精力打造Tizen系統，或者轉向非谷歌版的安卓系統。

That version is the Android Open Source Project – the one developers work with when they don’t want to join forces with Google. AOSP is free and is the version that Amazon has used in its Fire devices. Nokia used AOSP to create the well-received Nokia X range before Microsoft assimilated Nokia’s devices division and killed the project.

這種非谷歌版安卓系統屬於安卓開源項目(Android Open Source Project,AOSP)，當開發者不想跟谷歌聯合時可以加入這個項目。AOSP是免費的，亞馬遜在其Fire設備上便使用了AOSP。諾基亞使用AOSP開發了頗受歡迎的Nokia X系列產品，後來微軟(Micrsoft)吞併了諾基亞手機部門，廢棄了該項目。

Amazon and Nokia would do well to look to China, where local providers have built strong ecosystems on the AOSP version of Android. In hardware, Xiaomi has 31.6 per cent of the urban Chinese market, according to Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel, the market research company. “Xiaomi is the model that works,” she says.

亞馬遜和諾基亞可以把目光投向中國，中國當地廠商已基於AOSP版安卓打造了強大的生態系統。市場研究公司Kantar Worldpanel的研究總監卡羅琳娜•米拉內西(Carolina Milanesi)表示，在硬件方面，小米(Xiaomi)已佔據中國城市31.6%的市場份額。她說：“小米模式很有效。”

What works in China is a package of services delivered via the hardware. At the end of last year, Gartner, the research company, noted: “Chinese-based internet providers, such as Baidu, Alibaba Group and Tencent, [are] providing local featured apps, services and content through app stores that they themselves operate. This participation is preventing Google from being a major beneficiary of smartphone user growth in the China market.”

在中國有效的模式，是通過硬件提供一攬子服務。在去年底，研究公司高德納(Gartner)指出：“百度(Baidu)、阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group)和騰訊(Tencent)等中國互聯網服務提供商（正在）通過自己運營的應用商店，提供具有本地特色的應用、服務和內容。它們的這種參與，使谷歌沒能成爲中國市場智能手機用戶增長的一個主要受益方。”

If Google has lost out in China, it could lose out elsewhere. Microsoft is keen to get its services – , Bing, Office and OneDrive – into more hands, and while its Windows Phone OS has been well received, its market share of just 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year means it has a long way to go.

如果谷歌在中國市場失利，它也可能在其他任何市場落敗。微軟希望吸引更多人使用其服務——、必應(Bing), Office和OneDrive；儘管其Windows Phone(WP)操作系統頗受歡迎，但今年二季度其市場份額僅爲2.5%，意味着微軟還有很長的路要走。

Intriguingly, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has been reported as talking to Cyanogen, which maintains a popular AOSP fork of Android. While Microsoft is unlikely to be considering buying Cyanogen, partnering with it to provide services as part of the package makes sense.

耐人尋味的是，微軟首席執行官薩蒂亞•納德拉(Satya Nadella)據報道正與Cyanogen洽談。Cyanogen維護着一個人氣頗高的安卓AOSP系統。微軟不大可能考慮收購Cyanogen，但與其合作提供部分服務還是可行的。

Here’s a blue-sky suggestion for Mr Nadella: sit down with Jeff Bezos at Amazon to develop a good fork of Android. Microsoft has a compelling services offering but an almost non-existent platform for these services, despite the quality of the Lumia handsets. Amazon has compelling content with its Prime video but seems unable to get consumers to buy its Fire devices.

這裏給納德拉提一個堪稱奇思妙想的建議：與亞馬遜的傑夫•貝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)坐在一起，討論開發一款優秀的安卓分支系統。微軟提供強大的服務，但沒有搭載這些服務的平臺，儘管Lumia手機質量不錯。亞馬遜通過Prime視頻提供強大的內容，但看來無法吸引消費者購買其Fire設備。

For smaller providers, a Microsoft-Amazon-style joint venture would be a great way to become part of an ecosystem out of Google’s reach. I suspect consumers would find that attractive. How about it, Satya and Jeff?

對於規模較小的服務提供商來說，像微軟與亞馬遜這樣的合作是一個很好的方式，將吸引它們加入一個擺脫了谷歌影響的生態系統。我覺得這對用戶是有吸引力的。不知貝佐斯和納德拉意下如何？