Note7“爆炸门”重创三星 三星移动通信业务是否会一蹶不振.

　　三星note7爆炸事件是近日来科技界的焦点话题之一，作为重磅推出的产品，寄予厚望打败iphone的三星note7因为爆炸事故而不得不全球召回，最后沦为停产的命运。大家关心的焦点在于三星手机会不会从此一蹶不振。

　　A popular joke going around the telecoms industry of late is that Samsung has outmanoeuvred Apple in smartphone innovation — adding a powerful heater to its Galaxy Note 7 to warm the hands of users in cold winter months.

　　最近电信行业普遍流传的一个笑话是，三星(Samsung)在智能手机创新上比苹果(Apple)更胜一筹——它给Galaxy Note 7加上一个功率强大的加热器以便让用户在寒冷的冬季暖手。

　　Yet the smartphone’s overheating safety issues have become no laughing matter for the South Korean company, after it pulled the plug on a model that only a few months earlier had some in the industry arguing it was the best handset they had ever seen.

　　然而，对这家韩国公司来说，Note 7过热引起的安全问题一点儿也不好笑，此前该公司宣布停售Note 7，而就在几个月前，业内一些人还辩称，这是他们见过的最好的手机。

　　The move to warn consumers to stop using the fire-prone model, then to kill the handset model for good, in a frantic 24-hour period, has not only hit Samsung’s share price and reputation, but also raised concerns its standing as the world’s largest phonemaker could be under threat. One network source told the Financial Times that sales of the Galaxy S7 have started to dip this week, in what could be an early sign the brand has taken a big hit in consumers’ eyes.

　　在手忙脚乱的24小时内，三星先是警告消费者停止使用这款容易着火的手机，随后宣布永久停售Note 7，这些举措不仅影响了该公司的股价和声誉，而且还让人担忧它作为全球最大手机制造商的地位可能受到威胁。一位消息人士向英国《金融时报》表示，Galaxy S7的销售本周开始下滑，这被消费者认为可能是该品牌遭受重创的早期迹象。

　　Samsung had initially won praise for its handling of the safety issues that plagued the Galaxy Note 7 after its launch in August. It moved to replace 2.5m of the phones in early September, amid reports that the handset was overheating and catching fire. Despite creeping concern about the phones, as airlines and consumer watchdogs continued to issue warnings about the Note 7, Samsung shares hit an all-time high last week as investors shook off the financial impact of the initial recall. The replacement programme and a switch in battery supplier appeared to have drawn a line under the affair.

　　Galaxy Note 7在今年8月上市后，三星最初对安全问题的处理赢得了赞誉。有报道称Note 7过热，容易起火爆炸，因此它在9月初为250万这款手机提供换机服务。尽管人们对这款手机的担忧渐渐加剧，尽管航空公司和消费者保护团体持续发布警告，但随着投资者消化最初召回事件的财务影响，三星股价上周涨至史上最高水平。换机计划和更换电池供应商似乎让该事件告一段落。

　　Yet that confidence was shattered when a spate of further fires caused US networks to withdraw the replacement model, with Samsung following suit this week with a total withdrawal of the Note 7 from the market. Its second recall has raised question marks over whether it had sufficiently investigated the matter in the first place.

　　然而，随后发生的一系列起火事件使得美国运营商召回新的Note 7，本周该公司又从市场全面召回Note 7，投资者的信心遭到破坏。第二次召回令人质疑三星最初是否对该事件展开了充分调查。

　　“It is easy to overlook the first recall, but much more difficult to overlook the second,” analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note on Monday.

　　瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析师们周一在报告中表示：“接受第一次召回很容易，但忽视第二次召回要困难得多。”

　　Lowell McAdam, chi executive of Verizon, said that Samsung had suffered a “major black eye” as a result of the unprecedented second recall. “This is by far the biggest concern I have seen in cell phones during my tenure,” he said, at an industry conference in California.

　　Verizon首席执行官洛厄尔?麦克亚当(Lowell McAdam)表示，史无前例的第二次召回沉重打击三星，给其留下“大黑眼圈”。他在加州的一个行业会议上说：“这是我在任期间见到的对手机的最严重担忧。”

　　The immediate financial damage of scrapping the Note 7 is significant, with 4m already having been produced. Analysts estimated that the costs could be $2.5bn. The move will also create a $17bn black hole in its sales outlook, based on Samsung’s expectations that it would sell around 19m units.

　　召回Note 7对三星财务产生的直接影响是显著的，有400万台Note 7已被生产出来。分析师们估计，成本可能高达25亿美元。按照三星销售约1900万台Note 7的预期计算，此举也将给三星销售前景留下170亿美元的黑洞。

　　The Note remains only a small segment of the broad range of Samsung devices, given it produces 300m smartphones a year, but the reputational damage could be severe and cause consumers to reconsider their attachment to the brand. The latest industry data from Gartner shows Samsung’s market share rose to 22.3 per cent in the second quarter from 21.8 per cent in the same period a year earlier, as sales surpassed those of Apple and Huawei, the number two and three performers, combined.

　　鉴于三星一年生产3亿部手机，这款Note依然是该公司庞大手机系列中的一小部分，但名誉上的损害可能非常严重，并促使消费者重新考虑对该品牌的忠诚度。高德纳(Gartner)最新发布的行业数据显示，在今年第二季度，三星市场份额从去年同期的21.8%升至22.3%，销量超过排名第二和第三的苹果和华为(Huawei)之和。

　　Yet the freall in market share of former powerhouses Nokia, Motorola and BlackBerry proves that sustained dominance in the smartphone sector is difficult to achieve.

　　然而，曾经的手机巨头诺基亚(Nokia)、摩托罗拉(Motorola)和黑莓(BlackBerry)市场份额的暴跌证明，很难持续占据智能手机领域的霸主地位。

　　Google’s Pixel phone, due to hit the shelves later this month, was already tuned to target Samsung, which has built its phone empire on the search company’s Android operating system. Analysts said Huawei and LG were also well positioned to benit if Samsung started to seep share, but Google appears to have timed its run into its own hardware well. “This particular opportunity is Google’s to lose,” said Richard Windsor at Edison Investment Research.

　　谷歌(Google)将于本月晚些时候上市的Pixel手机已经将矛头对准三星，而三星正是利用谷歌的安卓操作系统创建了自己的手机帝国。分析师们表示，如果三星开始丧失市场份额，华为和LG也很有可能受益，但谷歌进军自己的硬件业务似乎找对了时机。Edison Investment Research的理查德?温德索(Richard Windsor)表示：“失去这个特殊机遇将是谷歌的过错。”

　　The high-profile failure of the Note 7 has also dealt a blow to Samsung’s confidence, after its recent struggles to revive its core smartphone business. “They got their mojo back with the S7 so they’re really hurting now. It’s humiliating,” said one industry source.

　　Note 7引人注目的失败还重创了三星的信心，近期该公司难以重振其核心的智能手机业务。一位业内人士表示：“他们曾利用S7恢复了元气，因此现在他们真的感到难受。这太丢人了。”

　　The stakes are high, with Samsung historically deriving two-thirds of its profit from the smartphone market. “Samsung’s superb profitability in Android handsets is based on the fact that it out-ships its nearest competitor by more than 2 to 1, and a big loss of brand equity will give Huawei an opportunity to close the gap,” said Mr Windsor. “This will be highly detrimental for Samsung’s profitability in handsets leading us to be much more nervous with regard to the long-term outlook.”

　　智能手机业务对三星至为关键，历史上该公司三分之二的利润来自智能手机市场。温德索表示：“三星在安卓系统手机上的超强盈利能力基于如下事实，它的出货量比最接近的竞争对手多出两倍多，而此次品牌资产的巨大损失将让华为有机会缩减差距。这将极大地损害三星手机业务的盈利能力，从而让我们更加担心该公司的长期前景。”

　　The South Korean company could yet choose to retire the whole Note brand. Sources said it was still too early to determine whether the model would survive in a revamped form.

　　三星还可以选择放弃整个Note系列。消息人士称，该公司迄今尚未决定是否经过调整后继续保留Note系列。

　　How it handles the fallout of the Note 7 saga could well dine whether Samsung can retain its grasp on the premium end of the smartphone market or if its brand is tainted beyond repair.

　　三星如何处理Note 7事件可能决定该公司是继续保住智能手机市场的优势地位，还是从此一蹶不振。