投資者敦促蘋果解決兒童玩手機成癮問題
Two Apple investors are pressuring the iPhone maker to address concerns over smartphone addiction and the mental health effects of phone use among children, in a rare example of activist investors zeroing in on a public health issue rather than financial matters.
蘋果(Apple)的兩家投資者正向這家iPhone製造商施壓，敦促其應對智能手機成癮以及兒童使用手機的心理健康影響方面的關切。維權投資者瞄準公共健康問題而非財務問題實屬罕見。Jana Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a pension fund that holds more than $1.5bn of Apple shares, issued a letter to the company over the weekend outlining their concerns.
Jana Partners和加州教師退休系統(California State Teachers’ Retirement System)上週末致信蘋果提出它們的擔憂。加州教師退休系統是一家養老基金，持有逾15億美元的蘋果股票。They say there could be “unintentional negative side effects” of smartphone use by children and teenagers, and call on Apple to research the issue and provide phone settings limiting children’s screen time and content.
這兩家投資者表示，兒童和青少年使用智能手機可能產生“意想不到的負面影響”，它們呼籲蘋果就這個問題進行研究，並提供手機設置限制兒童的使用時間和看到的內容。
In the letter, the contents of which were reported by the Wall Street Journal, the investors argue that mental health concerns could eventually lead to a regulatory backlash that would hurt Apple’s financial performance in the long run.
它們在這封信中稱，心理健康擔憂可能最終會導致監管反彈，這將損害蘋果的長期財務表現。《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)報道了這封信的內容。The two investors say they are working with academics including Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, who coined the term “iGen” to refer to the new generation of smartphone-addicted children.
這兩家投資者表示，它們正與包括聖迭戈州立大學(San Diego State University)心理學教授瓊?特文格(Jean Twenge)在內的學者合作。特文格創造出了“i世代”(iGen)一詞，指對智能手機上癮的兒童這新一代人。“It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades,” wrote Ms Twenge in an article in The Atlantic last year. “Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.”
“不誇張地說，i世代正處於幾十年來最嚴重的心理健康危機的邊緣，”特文格去年在《大西洋月刊》(The Atlantic)的一篇文章中寫道，“很多問題可以追溯到他們的手機。”
The holdings of Jana and Calstrs represent less than 1 per cent of Apple’s total shares — the company has an market capitalisation of $890bn — but they believe that the issue of smartphone addiction is one that could strike a chord with users and investors alike.
Jana和加州教師退休系統的持股佔蘋果總股本的不到1%，但它們認爲，智能手機成癮問題可能會引起用戶和投資者的共鳴。蘋果市值爲8900億美元。Apple recently bowed to concerns over traffic accidents caused by drivers texting, with an update that tries to block users from sending texts while on the road.
蘋果最近向駕車者發訊息造成的交通事故所引發的擔憂低頭，給出了一個試圖阻止用戶在駕車時發訊息的軟件升級。Other tech companies have recently started to acknowledge and address their youngest users. Facebook launched a messaging app last year for children as young as six, which includes heavy parental controls.
其他科技公司最近開始承認並應對它們最年輕用戶的問題。Facebook去年爲低至6歲的兒童推出了一款消息應用，其中包含許多家長控制選項。Apple and Calstrs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jana confirmed the letter.
蘋果和加州教師退休系統未馬上回應記者的置評請求。Jana證實存在上述信函。
