苹果的挑战

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介绍这篇学人杂志的文章。我们通过英文阅读不仅获得知识与信息，也要学习基于事实和数据的适度评论原则，学习科学地辩证地全面地看待问题，理性客观地面对问题探讨问题和解决问题，不带滤镜地认识真实世界。

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The iPhone looks the most unassailable in its home market. Nearly half of all Americans aged 12 or more own one. And many of those who do not would like to, given how powerful a marker of status the Apple logo has become.

iPhone 在其本土市场看起来是不可战胜的。近一半 12 岁或以上的美国人都拥有一部 iPhone。鉴于苹果标志已成为一种强大的身份标志，许多没有的人也希望能拥有它。

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A big wrinkle is that America's smartphone market is shrinking. Americans bought some 124m new handsets in 2023, down from 174m six years earlier.

Now the strategy of grabbing a bigger slice of a shrinking American pie may have run its course. Apple's domestic sales peaked in 2021, at 77m. Last year it shipped 70m.

一个大问题是美国智能手机市场正在萎缩。美国人在 2023 年购买了约 1.24 亿部新手机，低于六年前的 1.74 亿部。

现在，抢占不断萎缩的美国市场份额更大份额的策略可能已经走到尽头。苹果的国内销量在 2021 年达到顶峰，为 7700 万部。去年它的出货量为 7000 万部。

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Gemini, whose co-creator just shared a Nobel prize, slots in nearly with the Android operating system, also designed by Google and made available to Samsung and others on an open-source basis. But not as neatly as it does in Google's own Pixels, which integrate Gemini not just with Android but also with its custom-made mobile chips.

其联合创始人刚刚获得诺贝尔奖的Gemini （译者注：谷歌的人工智能产品），几乎与 Android 操作系统并驾齐驱，后者也是由谷歌设计的，并以开源方式提供给三星和其他公司。但这些产品不如谷歌自己的 Pixel 手机那样巧妙，后者不仅将 Gemini 与 Android 集成，还与其定制的移动芯片集成。

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Apple has historically relied on a similar fusion of hardware and its operating system, iOS.

苹果历来也依赖类似的硬件和操作系统 iOS 的融合。

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China, Apple's second-largest market, is likewise in secular decline, but much more fiercely competitive. No smartphone brand in China exceeds 18% of unit sales. Five local ones - Oppo, Vivo, Honor, Huawei and Xiaomi - plus Apple each chalk up at least 14%.

中国是苹果的第二大市场，同样也处于衰减之中，但竞争却更加激烈。在中国，没有一个智能手机品牌的销量超过 18%。五家本土品牌——Oppo、Vivo、荣耀、华为和小米——加上苹果，每家的销量至少达到 14%。

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The ultra-high-resolution cameras that Apple shuns are a selling point for homespun rivals in a selfie-obsessed nation. So is their Chineseness: patriotic consumption has helped Huawei, which America has tried to smother with sanctions since 2019, stage a remarkable comeback.

苹果没有使用超高分辨率镜头，这成了这个热爱自拍的国家的本土竞争对手的卖点。还有他们的中国特色：爱国消费帮助华为实现了惊人的复苏，而自 2019 年以来，美国一直试图通过制裁来阻击华为。

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Chinese devices, which use a greater portion of cheap but high-quality Chinese components than iPhones do, offer better value for money.

中国手机比 iPhone 使用了更多廉价但高质量的中国零部件，因此性价比更高。

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In parts of the world where smartphone sales are still growing apace, Apple has a different problem - its pricey iPhone are almost nowhere to be seen.

Tanssion's cut-price devices reign supreme in Africa. In India, where Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi together account for two-thirds of handsets sold. Apple's share languishes at 5%.

在智能手机销量仍在快速增长的地区，苹果面临的问题有所不同——那里几乎看不到昂贵的 iPhone。

传音（译者注：中国手机制造商）的廉价手机在非洲占据主导地位。在印度，Oppo、Vivo 和小米合计占手机销量的三分之二。苹果的份额仅为 5%。

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It is possible that as their disposable incomes rise, phone-buyers in the global south will, like many Chinese before the, opt for higher-end offerings from their current suppliers, rather than hurrying to buy an iPhone.

随着可支配收入的增加，新兴发展中国家的手机买家可能会像许多中国人一样，选择现有供应商提供的高端产品，而不是急于购买 iPhone。

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The world's 1.5bn iPhone-users represent the wealthiest one-fifth of humanity. Many happily lock themselves in the iOS walled orchard, where Apple sells them high-margin services from cloud storage to streaming and, soon, AI.

全球 15 亿 iPhone 用户代表着人类最富有的五分之一。许多人乐于将自己锁在 iOS 的围墙里，苹果向他们出售从云存储到流媒体以及即将推出的人工智能等高利润服务。