蘋果親近和碩 富士康壟斷地位遭削弱

For years, nearly all of the world's iPhones and iPads rolled off the assembly Lines of a single company: Foxconn.

多年來，全球幾乎所有iPhone和iPad都來自同一家公司的裝配線。這家公司就是富士康(Foxconn)。

It was a famous partnership between two outsize personalities -- Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.'s intense and mercurial co-founder, and Terry Gou, the Taiwanese manufacturer's equally demanding chairman.

這是兩位個性鮮明的人物達成的一項遠近聞名的合作關係：一位是蘋果(Apple Inc.)專注且脾氣捉摸不定的聯合創始人喬布斯(Steve Jobs)；另一位則是同樣苛刻的富士康董事長郭臺銘。

But under current Chief Executive Tim Cook, Apple is dividing its weight more equally with a relatively unknown supplier, giving the technology giant a greater supply-chain balance.

但在蘋果現任首席執行長庫克(Tim Cook)的領導下，蘋果正將其業務更加公平地分包給另一家知名度較小的供應商。這家科技巨頭的供應鏈因此變得更加平衡。

Pegatron Corp., named after the flying horse Pegasus, will be the primary assembler of a low-cost iPhone expected to be offered later this year. Foxconn's smaller rival across town became a minor producer of iPhones in 2011 and began making iPad Mini tablet computers last year.

和碩聯合科技股份有限公司(Pegatron Corp.)將成爲預計今年晚些時候推出的一款低價iPhone的主要組裝企業。和碩的名字來源於希臘神話中的飛馬珀伽索(Pegasus)。作爲富士康的同城競爭對手，規模較小的和碩在2011年成爲iPhone的次要製造商，並從去年開始生產iPad Mini平板電腦。

Pegatron's rise means an end to the monopoly that Foxconn Technology Group -- the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer -- has held over the production of Apple's mobile products.

和碩的崛起意味着富士康對蘋果移動產品生產壟斷的終結。富士康是全球最大的電子產品合同製造商鴻海精密工業股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)的商標名。

People familiar with the matter point to strategic reasons for the shift: risk diversification after Foxconn's manufacturing glitches last year with the iPhone 5 that resulted in scratches on the metal casings, and Apple's decision to expand its product lines amid growing competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and others.

知情人士指出了果進行上述轉移的戰略原因：去年富士康製造工藝存在缺陷導致iPhone 5的金屬外殼出現劃痕，蘋果因此希望分散風險；來自三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)和其它廠家的競爭日益激烈，蘋果決定擴大其產品線。

Pegatron also has been willing to accept thinner profits as it courts Apple's business, analysts said. The company declined to comment about its pricing.

分析師稱，在試圖爭取蘋果業務的同時，和碩也願意接受更薄的利潤。和碩拒絕對其定價置評。

Apple declined to comment.

蘋果不予置評。

Foxconn's cost advantages from scale have waned as it works to improve factory conditions after a spate of high-profile worker suicides and accidents in recent years. Although Pegatron briefly caught the public eye in 2011 due to a factory explosion that injured dozens of workers, the smaller company has largely escaped the laserlike spotlight that has forced Foxconn to increase wages and make changes to its labor practices.

近年來，在發生了一系列備受矚目的員工自殺和事故之後，爲了改善工廠條件，富士康的規模成本優勢已經減弱。雖然2011年旗下一家工廠爆炸導致數十名工人受傷曾在短時間內令和碩成爲公衆關注的焦點，但這家規模較小的企業在很大程度上躲過了一系列備受矚目的事件。正是這些事件令富士康提高工資，並改變其涉及工人的種種做法。

Foxconn, in its growing heft as the world's largest electronics contract company, was also getting more difficult for Apple to control, with incidents such as changing component sourcing without notifying Apple, people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, Foxconn became frustrated with the growing complexity of Apple products, such as the iPhone 5, which is difficult to make in the volumes Apple needed.

知情人士說，作爲全球最大的電子產品合同製造商，富士康的影響力越來越大，蘋果也越來越難以控制這家企業。此前曾發生過富士康改變零部件採購來源卻沒有通知蘋果等事件。與此同時，富士康對日益複雜的蘋果產品感到不滿。比如富士康的iPhone 5產量就難以滿足蘋果所需。

Executive changes at Apple have also made a difference. Mr. Jobs had been easier at forgiving his favorite manufacturing partner, according to several people familiar with the relationship. Now, instead of relying on the uniquely close partnership between 'two leaders with a hero complex' -- as one of the people said -- Mr. Cook is putting a greater premium on risk diversification, they said. Still, Mr. Cook and Mr. Gou have a strong relationship and have known each other even before Mr. Cook joined Apple in 1998, one of the people said.

蘋果公司管理層變動對此也有影響。知情人士說，喬布斯更容易原諒他最喜歡的製造合作伙伴犯下的錯誤。上述人士說，如今，庫克更爲看重風險的分散，而不是依靠喬布斯和郭臺銘“這兩位同樣看重英雄情結的商業領袖”（其中一位知情人士的原話）結下的獨特的密切夥伴關係。儘管如此，其中一位知情人士說，庫克和郭臺銘的關係仍然非常牢固。早在庫克1998年進入蘋果公司之前，兩人就已經相識。

But with its growing importance as an Apple supplier, Pegatron will likely also face growing scrutiny. The company declined to comment on whether it has made any changes to its labor practices after the 2011 factory explosion.

但隨著作爲蘋果供應商的和碩的重要性日益顯現，該公司也有可能面臨越來越多的審視。在2011年工廠爆炸發生後，和碩對其是否改變了種種用工做法不予置評。

As with other contract manufacturers, Pegatron's success is based largely on secrecy and tact as it juggles production of competing products from companies such as Apple, Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. as well as Dell Inc.

就像其他合同製造商一樣，在生產蘋果、微軟(Microsoft Corp.)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co.)以及戴爾(Dell Inc.)等公司相互競爭的產品的過程中，和碩的成功依靠的是保密和機變。

At its sleek headquarters on the outskirts of Taipei, engineers serving different clients eat lunch together in the same cafeteria and gather after hours in the gym, but they rarely know the details of each others' work. Sensitive projects are cordoned off by keycard access, or even face recognition software.

在臺北郊區華麗的和碩總部大樓，爲不同客戶服務的工程師們中午在同一個食堂吃飯，下班後又聚集在健身房，但是他們很少知道彼此的具體工作內容。敏感項目一般由門禁系統甚至面部識別軟件來把守。

While Pegatron migh seem to be a newcomer on the surface, the Taipei-based company's Apple ties run deep, with its earlier incarnation packaging Apple computers by candlelight more than a decade ago.

儘管從表面上看，和碩似乎是初來乍到，但這家臺北公司與蘋果有很深的淵源，早在10多年前，這家公司的前身曾在燭光下爲蘋果包裝電腦。

Pegatron Senior Vice President Andy Tsai said that in 1999, the company he founded, Alpha-Top Technology Corp., landed the contract for Apple's first-generation iBooks. It wasn't the best first collaboration: a massive earthquake in Taiwan knocked out power and paralyzed production.

和碩的資深副總裁蔡進國表示，1999年，他創辦的公司Alpha-Top Technology Corp.獲得了蘋果第一代iBook的生產合同。首次合作並不順利：臺灣的一次大地震導致工廠斷電，生產陷入癱瘓。

'At that time, there were a lot of Apple people in my factory, telling us to find a solution,' said Mr. Tsai. 'I bought a lot of power generators, and we even used candles on the packing line.'

蔡進國說，當時我的工廠裏有許多蘋果的人，他們讓我想出解決辦法；我買了許多發電機，我們甚至在包裝流水線上使用了蠟燭。

Alpha-Top managed to keep its Apple business, although orders tapered off after it was acquired by Asustek Computer Inc., which juggled its own competing brand and contract work. Asustek spun off its contract manufacturing business in 2010 into Pegatron under pressure from clients.

Alpha-Top得以保住了蘋果的業務，不過，在被華碩電腦有限公司(Asustek Computer Inc.)收購之後，公司的訂單逐漸減少。華碩在從事合同製造業務的同時也在竭力推出自己的同類品牌。在客戶的壓力之下，華碩2010年把合同製造業務剝離出來，成立了和碩。

Pegatron's revenue in the first quarter -- 219.1 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$7.4 billion) -- is dwarfed by Foxconn's NT$809.1 billion ($27.3 billion). The smaller company also has thinner operating margins: 0.8% compared with Foxconn's 1.7%.

和碩第一季度的營收爲2,191億新臺幣（約合74億美元），遠遠低於富士康的8,091億新臺幣（約合273億美元）。由於規模較小，和碩的運營利潤也較低，爲0.8%，相比之下，富士康爲1.7%。

Pegatron, which has about 100,000 employees in Taiwan and China, expects to increase its China workforce in the second half of the year by around 40%, Chief Financial Officer Charles Lin said. Analysts attribute the staffing increase largely to expected production of low-cost iPhones.

和碩的首席財務長林秋炭說，和碩在臺灣和中國大陸總共擁有大約10萬名員工，預計今年下半年公司在中國大陸的工人數量將增加大約40%。分析人士認爲，和碩增加人手主要是因爲公司預計將生產低成本的iPhone。

Pegatron began making iPad Minis last year, but some people familiar with the situation said low yield rates meant volume was lower than originally planned and Foxconn ended up taking on the bulk of the production.

和碩去年開始生產iPad Mini，但是一些知情人士說，由於和碩的生產效率較低，其產量趕不上最初的計劃，最終富士康承擔了大部分的生產任務。

'There's a learning curve for any new products, so our yield rates are increasing,' said Mr. Lin, although he declined to comment on any Apple products.

林秋炭說，生產任何新產品都需要一個學習的過程，我們的生產效率正在不斷提高。不過他拒絕對任何蘋果產品置評。

More than half of Pegatron's revenue in its consumer-electronics and communications businesses this year will be from Apple, said KGI Securities analyst Angela Hsiang. She expects Pegatron to make the majority of iPad Minis sold this year, as well as the majority of the coming less-costly iPhone.

凱基證券(KGI Securities)的分析師Angela Hsiang說，今年，和碩的消費電子和通信業務的營收中，來自蘋果的將超過一半。她預計，今年銷售的大部分iPad Mini以及大部分即將面市的低價iPhone都將由和碩生產。

Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing conceded the company is in the midst of a challenging period.

富士康的發言人邢治平承認，公司正處在一個充滿挑戰的時期。

'We are transforming the business and expanding in areas like e-commerce, ' Mr. Hsing said, without providing more specific details.

邢志平說，我們正在實施業務轉型，在電子商務等領域進行擴張。他沒有提供更多具體細節。