Nokia Corp.'s decision to sell its handset business to Microsoft Corp. and focus on wireless-network equipment is the Finnish company's latest attempt in its 148-year history to reinvent itself during a crisis. It also marks the effective end of a national champion and onetime global tech giant。
諾基亞公司(Nokia Corp。)決定將手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)賣給微軟公司(Microsoft Corp。),轉(zhuǎn)而聚焦無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備。這不僅是這家擁有148年歷史的芬蘭公司在危機(jī)中重塑自我形象的最新嘗試,也標(biāo)志著諾基亞作為芬蘭企業(yè)領(lǐng)袖和全球科技巨頭生涯的終結(jié)。
'This is end of an era in Finland,' Jan Vapaavuori, the country's minister of economic affairs said Tuesday. The deal with Microsoft will have a 'mental effect,' he said, since Nokia long has been an important international brand with Finnish roots。
芬蘭經(jīng)濟(jì)事務(wù)部部長瓦帕沃里(Jan Vapaavuori)周二說,這是芬蘭一個(gè)時(shí)代的終結(jié)。他說,諾基亞與微軟的這筆交易將產(chǎn)生“心理影響”,因?yàn)殚L期以來諾基亞一直是帶有芬蘭血統(tǒng)的國際重要品牌。
Founded in 1865, when engineer Fredrik Idestam set up a wood-pulp mill in southwestern Finland, Nokia has had a history of radical shifts in its business. The first was at the turn of the 20th century, when the company moved into making rubber boots and other products。
諾基亞1865年由工程師伊德斯坦(Fredrik Idestam)在芬蘭西南部創(chuàng)立,最初是一家紙漿生產(chǎn)廠,之后經(jīng)歷了一系列業(yè)務(wù)上的劇變。第一個(gè)劇變發(fā)生在20世紀(jì)初,該公司開始生產(chǎn)橡膠靴和其它產(chǎn)品。
In 1967 the company merged with partner Finnish Cable Works, which had been developing radio telephones for the country's army. Nokia in the early 1980s went on to become one of the first players in the cellphone industry
1967年,諾基亞與合作伙伴芬蘭電纜廠(Finnish Cable Works)合并,后者為芬蘭軍隊(duì)研發(fā)無線電話。上世紀(jì)80年代初,諾基亞開始成為手機(jī)業(yè)最早的生產(chǎn)廠家之一。
It introduced the Mobira Senator car phone in 1982, only a year after the creation of the Nordic Mobile Telephone service, the world's first international cellular network。
1982年,諾基亞發(fā)布了車載電話Mobira Senator。在此之前,北歐移動(dòng)電話(Nordic Mobile Telephone)服務(wù)問世僅一年時(shí)間,這也是世界上首個(gè)國際蜂窩網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
Nokia unveiled its first hand-held phone in 1987, the Mobira Cityman, the same year that GSM was adopted as the European standard for mobile networks。
1987年,諾基亞推出了該公司第一部手持電話Mobira Cityman。同年,歐洲啟用全球移動(dòng)通訊系統(tǒng)(GSM)作為手機(jī)網(wǎng)絡(luò)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。
But Nokia ran into financial trouble at the end of the 1980s after acquiring unprofitable television-set factories in Europe。
但在收購了歐洲不賺錢的電視機(jī)生產(chǎn)廠后,諾基亞于上世紀(jì)80年底末陷入了財(cái)務(wù)困境。
In 1992 Jorma Ollila, a former Citibank executive, became chief executive and decided to focus on telecommunications. That worked-for a while. Nokia's success boosted its share price, and at its peak in 2000, the company was valued at 303 billion euros($400 billion at today's exchange rate)。
1992年,花旗(Citibank)前高管奧利拉(Jorma Ollila)成為諾基亞首席執(zhí)行長,決定帶領(lǐng)諾基亞專注于電信業(yè)。此舉在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)奏效了。諾基亞的成功提振了公司股價(jià)。2000年,諾基亞紅極一時(shí),其估值曾達(dá)到3,030億歐元(按現(xiàn)在的匯率計(jì)算是4,000億美元)。
But misplaced bets would change Nokia's fortunes。
但錯(cuò)誤押注會改變諾基亞的命運(yùn)。
Nokia executives predicted that producing traditional cellphones would be unprofitable by 2000, so the company in the 1990s started spending billions of dollars to research mobile email, touch screens and faster wireless networks. Nokia introduced its first smartphone, the Nokia 9000, in 1996-more than a decade before the first iPhone was released。
諾基亞高管們預(yù)計(jì),生產(chǎn)傳統(tǒng)手機(jī)在2000年之前將變得無利可圖,于是該公司在上世紀(jì)90年代開始花費(fèi)數(shù)十億美元研究手機(jī)郵件、觸摸屏以及更快的無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)。諾基亞于1996年推出了其第一款智能手機(jī)諾基亞9000(Nokia 9000),比第一款iPhone早了十多年。
U.S. rival Motorola Inc. scored a world-wide hit with the thin Razr flip phones, however, and Nokia faced criticism from investors over its focus on high-end smartphones。
然而諾基亞的美國競爭對手摩托羅拉(Motorola Inc。)憑借輕薄的Razr翻蓋手機(jī)在全球大獲成功,諾基亞卻面臨著投資者對其專注于高端智能手機(jī)的抨擊。
Former Nokia finance chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo took the helm from Mr. Ollila and merged Nokia's smartphone and basic-phone operations, with the result that the more-profitable basic-phone business started calling the shots. Returning to a focus on traditional phones, Nokia found itself at a disadvantage when the iPhone was unveiled in 2007. As Apple Inc.'s AAPL +0.28% phone gained popularity, Nokia tried to play catch-up。
前諾基亞首席財(cái)務(wù)長康培凱(Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo)接替奧利拉擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行長,將諾基亞的智能手機(jī)與基礎(chǔ)手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)合并,結(jié)果是更為有利可圖的基礎(chǔ)手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)開始發(fā)號施令。重新關(guān)注傳統(tǒng)手機(jī)后,在2007年iPhone推出時(shí),諾基亞發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處于不利地位。隨著蘋果(Apple Inc。)的手機(jī)越來越受歡迎,諾基亞試圖迎頭趕上。
Nokia's relationship with Microsoft began as Canadian Stephen Elop took the reins of the Finnish company in 2010 and decided to scrap the company's effort to revamp its aging Symbian operating system, opting instead for Microsoft's Windows platform. Nokia cut tens of thousands of jobs, sold its elaborate seaside headquarters in Espoo, Finland, and scaled back research and development, the company's onetime jewel. Last year the company closed its last remaining phone factory in Finland。
加拿大人埃洛普(Stephen Elop)于2010年掌控這家芬蘭公司,并決定廢棄公司試圖改進(jìn)老舊的塞班(Symbian)操作系統(tǒng)的舉措,轉(zhuǎn)而選擇了微軟的Windows平臺,諾基亞與微軟的合作由此開始。諾基亞削減了數(shù)萬個(gè)職位,賣掉了在芬蘭埃斯波(Espoo)精心建造的海濱總部,并縮減了該公司曾經(jīng)引以為豪的研發(fā)。去年,該公司關(guān)閉了芬蘭最后一家手機(jī)工廠。
Meanwhile, the handset business has struggled。
與此同時(shí),其手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)陷入困境。
While Nokia's flagship Lumia series has received good reviews, the company has failed to make a dent on its main competitors, Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. Nokia's second-quarter revenue from phone sales was less than 25% what it was in the first quarter of 2011, when Nokia's tie-up with Microsoft was announced。
雖然諾基亞的旗艦Lumia系列獲得好評,但該公司沒能對蘋果和三星電子(Samsung Electronics)等主要競爭對手造成沖擊。諾基亞第二季度手機(jī)銷售收入還不到2011年一季度諾基亞宣布與微軟合作時(shí)的25%。
Now, with the handset operation gone, what remains is network-gear business Nokia Solutions and Networks. Nokia bought Siemens AG's SIE.XE -0.51% stake in the operation, formerly Nokia Siemens Networks, this summer for about $2.2 billion. Nokia also has a business that provides maps to Microsoft Windows devices and in-car navigation systems。
現(xiàn)在,失去手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)之后,剩下的是網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)Nokia Solutions and Networks。諾基亞今年夏天以大約22億美元收購了西門子(Siemens AG)在以前的諾基亞西門子通信公司(Nokia Siemens Networks)的股份。諾基亞還有一項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)是為微軟的Windows設(shè)備和車內(nèi)導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)提供地圖。