微軟和谷歌將爲平板電腦市場帶來哪些變化?

While Apple's iPad remains the lodestar at the center of the tablet universe, Microsoft and Google are aiming at its opposite ends. Of those two, Microsoft's strategy looks like the one to get more excited about.

儘管蘋果公司(Apple Inc.)的iPad仍然佔據着平板電腦市場的主導地位，微軟(Microsoft Corp.)和谷歌(Google Inc.)卻採取了與蘋果截然不同的戰略。就這兩家公司而言，微軟的戰略似乎更激動人心。

Google is going cheap, Microsoft high-end. The seven-inch, $199 Nexus 7 tablet from the search giant, released Wednesday, is set to duke it out for the bottom end of the market with 's identically sized and priced Kindle Fire. Thus far, price has been the only way rival tablets have been able to take market share away from the iPad-which commanded 63% share in the first quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. Cheaper Android tablets had 32%. So, in that sense, Google is playing it safe.

相關報道谷歌推採取了低價策略，而微軟則走了高端路線。谷歌週三發佈了售價199美元的7英寸平板電腦──Nexus 7，這款產品將與擁有同樣尺寸和定價的亞馬遜公司的Kindle Fire在低端市場一決雌雄。截至目前，價格已經成了平板電腦市場競爭者與iPad爭奪市場份額的唯一手段。根據市場研究公司Strategy Analytics的數據，蘋果今年第一季度的市場份額爲63%。售價低於iPad的安卓(Android)平板設備獲得了32%的市場份額。因此，從這種意義上講，谷歌的策略是以安全爲重。

But Microsoft's Surface-at least the more expensive of its two versions-may be able to carve out its own niche when released late this year or early next year. With a clever keyboard on the flip side of its magnetic cover, ports for connecting other devices and, crucially, compatibility with enterprise applications including Microsoft Office, it is the first crossover tablet that could fully replace a laptop.

但是價格更貴的微軟Surface（至少比谷歌的平板電腦貴）今年年末或是明年年初上市時，也許能夠搶到一部分市場份額。這款電腦巧妙地在磁性保護套的反面配備了鍵盤，並具有多個與其他設備連接的端口，最重要的是，它可以兼容微軟辦公軟件等企業應用程序，這些特色使之成爲第一款可以完全取代筆記本電腦的多功能平板電腦。

Granted, Microsoft has a challenge to attract content and apps to its platform. But if it can do so, it may be able to flip the 'bring-your-own-device' trend that has so many corporate workers bringing iPads to the office. Instead, they may bring the Surface home.

毫無疑問，微軟面臨的挑戰是，如何將內容和應用程序吸引到它的平臺。如果微軟能夠做到這一點，它就有可能改變目前許多企業員工不得不帶着自己的iPad到辦公室使用的做法。相反，人們可以把辦公室的Surface帶回家。

Going higher-end also means Microsoft would dodge a potential threat to Amazon and Google. If, as is possible, Apple releases a cheaper, smaller iPad, the bottom of the market could gravitate its way as well.

走高端路線還意味着，微軟可能會避開亞馬遜和谷歌的潛在威脅。如果蘋果推出一款更便宜、尺寸更小的iPad（這種可能性完全存在），低端市場也許同樣會向蘋果傾斜。