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HTC's patent problems
HTC的專利問題
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要當心安卓系統了
Using Google's Android software has given HTC a boost, but it may now make the Taiwanese handset-maker vulnerable to costly lawsuits.
使用谷歌的安卓軟件推動了宏達電的發展，但是現在它可能變成弱點，令這家臺灣手機制造公司遭遇昂貴的訴訟
UNTIL a few years ago HTC was pretty small and relatively obscure.
幾年前HTC還只是一個規模很小、相對不知名的公司。
But the Taiwanese company's recent growth has been remarkable.
但是這家臺灣公司最近的業績增長卻有目共睹。
In the second quarter it sold 11m smartphones, more than doubling its revenues in the same period last year.
今年第二季度它共出售了1100萬部智能手機，收入比去年同期增加了一倍多。
HTC's main rivals, Nokia, Samsung and Apple, still sell around twice as many smartphones.
HTC的主要競爭對手諾基亞、三星和蘋果公司賣出的智能手機仍然是HTC的大概兩倍。
But its rapid growth, especially on Apple's American home turf, has made it a competitor to reckon with.
但是它的快速崛起、特別是在蘋果的美國老家的迅速發展，已經使它成為不容小覷的對手。
One reason for HTC's surging sales is the relentless pace of its innovation:
HTC手機銷量猛增的原因之一是它源源不斷的創新：
in the past quarter, in which Apple had no new iPhone to launch, HTC introduced ten new models.
上個季度，蘋果公司沒有發布任何新款iPhone，但是HTC卻推出了10款新機型。
Another is Google's Android operating system, on which most of HTC's smartphones are now based, which has proved a hit among consumers.
還有一個原因是谷歌的安卓操作系統，現在HTC智能手機的大部分都以此系統為平臺，它在消費者中間非常受歡迎。
Apple has not taken the challenge from HTC lightly.
蘋果公司并未輕視來自HTC的挑戰。
On July 15th the US International Trade Commission upheld two claims in a larger patent suit Apple had filed against its rival.
7月15日，在蘋果公司起訴HTC的一起比較大的專利訴訟案中，美國國際貿易委員會裁決HTC侵犯蘋果公司的兩項專利。
Earlier in the month, Apple had filed additional claims and MOSAID, a Canadian company, said it would also sue HTC, and Sony Ericsson, for patent infringement.
本月初，蘋果公司還起訴HTC侵犯了自己另外幾項專利，而加拿大公司MOSAID稱它也要起訴HTC和索尼愛立信侵犯專利。
The outcome of these cases will be of keen interest not just for HTC but for other handset-makers using Android: promoted as a free, open-source system, it is proving surprisingly expensive.
這些案件的結果不僅關系到HTC的直接利益，同時也關系到其他使用安卓系統的手機制造商的切身利益：安卓系統以免費、開放資源的姿態推廣入市，但現在證明它會非常得貴。
This is because it relies on a host of basic features that may be subject to patents: how a screen is swiped with a finger, how a phone number embedded in an e-mail can be called by tapping it, and so on.
這是因為它的一些基本特色也許涉及到專利：觸摸屏、電郵里的電話號碼能直接撥打等等。
Last year HTC resolved another claim over Android, with Microsoft, agreeing to pay it hefty royalties.
去年，HTC也解決了一起有關安卓系統的專利問題，它同意向微軟支付巨額專利費用。
More such suits may yet emerge, and prove costly.
更多這樣的訴訟也許還會浮出水面，而且代價高昂。
HTC's shares, having hitherto outperformed its peers,have dropped by a third since early June.
HTC的股價目前已經勝過同行們的了，而自6月初以來已經下跌了三分之一。
HTC will appeal against the trade commission's ruling; but it will fight back in other ways, too.
HTC將就貿易委員會的裁決提起上訴；不過它也從其他方面予以反擊。
This month it spent $300m buying a loss-making software firm, S3, which recently won a patent case against Apple and may have other patents that will be useful in fending off Apple's legal forays.
本月，它耗資3億美元收購了虧損軟件公司S3，這家公司最近在與蘋果的專利案中勝訴，它也許還有其他專利能幫助HTC應對蘋果的法律突襲。
Founded in 1997, HTC started out mostly doing contract manufacturing for other gadget-sellers.
HTC成立于1997年，最初主要為其他小機械銷售者做代工。
But as it has gained confidence in making smartphones under its own brand, it has steadily risen up mobile operators' lists of the handsets they promote to subscribers.
但是隨著在制造自己品牌智能機方面積累起了信心，它在移動運營商向用戶推薦的手機名單中的地位平穩上升。
By April this year it had a bigger market capitalisation than troubled Nokia.
到今年4月，它的市場資本化已經比身陷困境的諾基亞公司要大了。
The firm's success has pushed Cher Wang, its chairwoman and largest shareholder, to the top of Forbes's Taiwan rich list, passing Terry Gou, the boss of Hon Hai.
HTC的成功使得其董事長、也是最大的股東王雪紅女士超過鴻海集團董事長郭臺銘榮登福布斯臺灣富人榜榜首。
HTC has kept much of its production in Taiwan whereas Hon Hai has shifted it to mainland China and stuck with contract manufacturing—a business that emphasises cost-trimming and low value-added.
HTC的生產多保留在臺灣省內，而鴻海集團則把生產移向中國大陸，繼續做代工—它注重節省成本和低附加值。
HTC has shown remarkable speed in building new products, adapting to changing telecoms standards and developing its own applications software.
HTC制造新產品非常迅速，也能很快地適應電信商的標準、開發自己的應用軟件。
And its manufacturing quality has been remarkably high.
其生產質量之高令人矚目。
Unlike rivals HTC has not suffered unpleasant headlines about shoddy products or suicides at its factories.
不同于競爭對手，HTC并未因劣質產品或是工廠里員工自殺而登上頭條惹一身麻煩。
It has made progress in building a brand that reflects innovation and trust, allowing it to escape from the low-cost treadmill on which some of its peers remain stuck.
在建立一個反應創新和信任的品牌方面它取得了進步，這使得它能從禁錮了一些同行的低成本枯燥無味的工作中逃脫出來。
But there is a risk that Android, a key element in this successful strategy, is turning into a vulnerability.
但是風險在于這種成功策略的關鍵因素之一安卓系統正轉變為致命弱點。
Apple sees its patents as a weapon to undermine Android's cost advantage.
蘋果公司以專利作為武器削弱安卓的價格優勢。
The more time HTC has to spend fighting lawsuits, and the greater the share of its revenues it has to pay out in software royalties, the harder it will be to keep up its remarkable run of success.
HTC花在反抗訴訟上的時間越多，它在軟件專利費上支出的錢占其收入的份額越大，那么它就越難保持巨大的優勢。
