阿里巴巴投資新浪微博意在挑戰安卓

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s investment into China's social media giant will likely be instrumental in one of its key ambitions: challenging the dominance of Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system in China's fast-growing smartphone market.

投資中國社交媒體巨頭的決定可能有助於阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)實現其一個重要目標：在中國快速增長的智能手機市場上，對谷歌(Google Inc.)安卓(Android)操作系統的主導地位發起挑戰。

Known primarily for its e-commerce heft in China, Alibaba is redesigning its business for the mobile Internet era by stepping up investment in its own smartphone operating system. Its $586 million investment in Sina Corp.'s (SINA) Twitter-like Weibo microblog business on Monday followed an earlier move this month to promote its mobile platform.

阿里巴巴集團在中國主要以其電商業務而聞名。通過加大對它自己的智能手機操作系統的投資力度，該公司正在爲適應移動互聯網時代的到來重新調整業務。阿里巴巴集團週一向新浪公司(Sina Corp.)與推特(Twitter)類似的微博業務投資了5.86億美元，此前，阿里巴巴集團上個月對其自己的手機操作平臺進行了宣傳推廣。

'If you are a big Internet company and you are ambitious enough in the mobile space, you have to do more than apps,' Alibaba Chief Strategy Officer Zeng Ming said in a recent interview. 'Otherwise, you are just a small species in an ecosystem controlled by others.'

阿里巴巴集團的首席戰略長曾鳴最近接受採訪時說，如果你是一家大型互聯網公司，在移動領域有足夠的抱負，你就不能僅限於做應用程序；否則的話，你只是一個由他人控制的生態系統中的一個小物種。

A tighter grip over Sina Weibo, which has 46.2 million daily active users, could enable Alibaba, whose Taobao shopping site has more than 500 million registered users, to have access to vast swaths of data. And having control over the operating system is the best way to gain access to all the mobile-based data, Mr. Zeng said.

新浪微博擁有4,620萬每日活躍用戶。加強對新浪微博的控制能夠使阿里巴巴獲得大量數據。阿里巴巴集團旗下的淘寶(Taobao)購物網站擁有超過5億註冊用戶。曾鳴說，對手機操作系統進行控制是獲得所有與手機有關的數據的最佳方式。

'Data on mobile phones are so valuable,' he said. 'In one way or the other, you can make some money out of it,' even though Alibaba is still working on specific ways to do so, he said.

他說，手機上的數據非常有價值。你可以通過某種方式利用這些數據賺錢，不過阿里巴巴目前仍在尋找具體的方式。

While Alibaba makes money through advertisement and service fees, how to monetize data accumulated through its online services--be it on PCs or mobile--has been a challenge.

儘管阿里巴巴集團可以通過收取廣告費和服務費盈利，但如何利用通過網絡服務獲取的數據(包括個人電腦和手機中的數據)來賺錢，一直是阿里巴巴集團面臨的一個挑戰。

The fledgling Alibaba Mobile OS, or AMOS, faces an uphill battle against Android, which, according to research firm IDC, powered more than 80% of all smartphones shipped in China last year. Apple's iOS held around 10%. Alibaba is aiming for a 10% share, even though its current market share is less than 1%, Mr. Zeng said.

初出茅廬的阿里巴巴集團的手機操作系統面臨着與安卓操作系統的艱難競爭，根據研究公司IDC的數據，中國去年銷售的智能手機中，有超過80%搭載的是安卓系統。中國只有約10%的手機使用蘋果(Apple Inc.)的iOS操作系統。曾鳴說，阿里巴巴的目標是讓自己的手機操作系統佔據10%的市場份額，但它目前的市場份額還不到1%。

Alibaba's OS has become a source of controversy. In September, Google objected to Acer Inc.'s (ACEIY, ) plan to sell a smartphone powered by Alibaba's OS. As Acer is part of the Google-led Open Handset Alliance, the U.S. firm said that the Taiwanese computer maker couldn't work with a 'noncompatible' version of Android. Alibaba rejected the view that its OS was an Android fork, but the Acer phone was never released.

阿里巴巴的操作系統已經成爲爭議之源。去年9月，谷歌反對宏碁股份有限公司(Acer Inc.)計劃銷售一款搭載阿里巴巴操作系統的智能手機。谷歌說，由於宏碁是谷歌主導的“開放手機聯盟”(Open Handset Alliance)的一員，因此它不能銷售搭載與安卓不相兼容的操作系統的智能手機。阿里巴巴否認其操作系統是安卓的變體，但上述宏碁手機從未發佈。

'If quite a few handset companies decide to choose Alibaba's OS, Google will have to be careful in how far they want to push it,' even if the handset makers belong to the Open Handset Alliance, said Mr. Zeng. Google declined to comment.

曾鳴說，如果不少手機廠商決定選擇阿里巴巴的操作系統，那麼谷歌就得小心了，它不得不考慮爲了打壓阿里巴巴願意走多遠，哪怕此過程涉及的手機廠商是“開放手機聯盟”的一員。谷歌對此不予置評。

Alibaba, founded in 1999, initially became known for its business-to-business site connecting Chinese suppliers with buyers, but it has since expanded with websites for consumers. Taobao is an eBay-like marketplace for small merchants, while Tmall hosts online storefronts for retailers including brands such as Gap Inc. (GPS).

阿里巴巴成立於1999年，最初是因爲旗下企業對企業(B2B)網站出名，該網站將中國的供應商和採購商聯繫在一起。但此後阿里巴巴的業務繼續擴大，推出了數個企業對顧客(B2C)網站。其中的淘寶類似eBay，它爲小商戶提供了一個交易市場。而天貓則爲包括Gap Inc.在內的品牌零售商提供網上店面。

'Weibo could bring a boost to Alibaba's mobile-based businesses,' said Canalys analyst Rachel Lashford. The key is how closely they can work together in sharing customer bases and making each other's platforms more attractive, she said. 'The deeper the cooperation, the bigger the benefits.'

研究機構Canalys的分析師拉什福特(Rachel Lashford)說，微博有可能提振阿里巴巴的移動業務。她說關鍵在於二者在分享客戶基礎、提升彼此平臺的吸引力等方面能夠在多大程度上進行密切合作。合作的層次越深，合作的收益越大。

Earlier this month, Alibaba announced new steps to promote its OS, through subsidies to handset makers and a one-billion-yuan ($162.1 million) funding program for app developers. The company is also working with telecommunications operators to make it possible for consumers to buy AMOS-based smartphones without paying deposits or down payments, depending on creditworthiness based on their activities on its e-commerce sites.

本月早些時候，阿里巴巴宣佈了新的措施以推廣其操作系統：向手機制造商提供補貼，併爲應用程序開發人員提供一個人民幣10億元（約合1.621億美元）的資助計劃。該公司還與電信運營商展開合作，爭取讓用戶無需預存話費或支付首付款就能得到基於阿里巴巴操作系統的智能手機。用戶能否享受這項政策將主要取決於他們在阿里巴巴旗下電子商務網站的信譽。

One factor that could work in Alibaba's favor: In China, Google faces challenges due to Beijing's restrictions, despite growth in some of its online advertising services. The company has pulled out its search service out of mainland China disagreements over censorship. In China, many Google services such as Gmail and Google Maps aren't available on Android-based devices, and Chinese users, without access to the Google Play app store, get apps from other local stores. In March, a Chinese government research institute accused Google of using Android's dominance to discriminate against local companies. Google declined to comment on the accusation.

一個可能有利於阿里巴巴的因素是：在中國，儘管谷歌的部分網絡廣告業務實現了增長，但由於北京的限制，它面臨種種挑戰。由於在搜索結果審查一事上同中國政府存在分歧，谷歌將搜索業務撤出中國內地。在中國，包括電子郵件服務Gmail和谷歌地圖(Google Maps)在內的許多谷歌服務無法在安卓設備上使用。由於無法登陸Google Play應用程序商店，中國用戶只能從其它本地應用程序商店下載應用程序。今年3月，中國政府一家研究機構指責谷歌利用安卓的主導優勢歧視本地企業。谷歌拒絕對這一指控發表評論。

Given the restrictions on Android's services in China, Alibaba could make its OS more competitive by seamlessly integrating Weibo's service and also taking advantage of its Alipay affiliate's expertise in mobile payment, said Ms. Lashford.

拉什福特說，鑑於安卓服務在中國面臨的種種限制，阿里巴巴可以通過無縫集成新浪微博的服務並利用旗下支付寶在移動支付領域的專業經驗來提升其操作系統的競爭力。

'You have to compete differently in the mobile space, rather than simply leveraging your strength in the PC-based market,' Mr. Zeng said.

曾鳴說，在移動領域你必須採取不同的競爭策略，而不僅僅是利用你在基於個人電腦的市場上的優勢。