評論
打印
Business
商業報道
Samsung
三星
Fluffed lines
忘詞
The South Korean giant has a lousy start to the new year
韓國巨頭新年出師不利
THE last 51 weeks of 2014 will be better than the first one.
2014年過去的51周都比新年的第一周要好。
Or so Samsung's bosses will hope after two toe-curlers in as many days.
在經過這些天來的兩次慘淡經營后，三星的老板們更是希望如此。
On January 6th, at the Consumer Electronics Show, a trade fair in Las Vegas, Michael Bay, director of the Transformer films, was due to extol a new Samsung television with a 105-inch curved screen.
今年1月6號，在位于拉斯維加斯的電子消費產品展上，變形金剛系列電影的導演邁克爾·貝本來是要稱贊三星一款105英寸的弧形屏幕電視的，
Alas, the autocue froze—as did Mr Bay, who walked off the stage.
可是就當他走上臺的時候，提詞器就卡屏了，最后尷尬下臺。
The next day Samsung Electronics, the part of the South Korean conglomerate that makes mobile devices, consumer electronics, semiconductors and display panels, admitted that in the last quarter of 2013 it had fallen far short of analysts' forecasts.
隨后的第二天，三星電子—三星集團中負責銷售移動設備、電子展品、半導體和顯示器的子公司，承認2013年最后一個季度的銷售遠低于分析師的預期。
Samsung Electronics' operating profit in the fourth quarter fell for the first time in more than two years, to about 8.3 trillion won, 18% less than in the third.
兩年以來，三星電子第四季度的營業利潤首次下滑，降至8.3萬億韓元，比第三季度少了18%，分析人士預計原本會有10萬億韓元或更多的收益。
Analysts had hoped for 10 trillion won or more. Revenue was around 59 trillion won, flat from the third quarter.
收入在59萬億韓元左右，與第三季度持平。
Rumours of a miss had already cropped 9% from the share price since December 23rd.
銷售額下滑的傳聞已經使股價自12月23日以來下降了9%。
Unlike the autocue, Samsung Electronics has not gone phut.
不像提詞器表現的那樣，三星電子并沒有死機，
The full results are due later this month, and the company is giving no more details yet, but most of the shortfall can probably be ascribed to temporary factors.
最后的結果會與本月底揭曉，公司目前沒有給出詳細的結果，但是短期的下滑大多歸因于臨時性的原因。
Samsung Electronics has handed maybe 800 billion won to its staff in a special bonus. Mark Newman of Sanford C.
三星電子分配給了三星員工大約8000億韓元的特別紅利。
Bernstein, a research firm, reckons that the strength of the won, which is at a four-year high, accounts for another 700 billion won.
一家分析公司的馬克·紐曼表示韓元的實力達到了四年來的新高，約合7000億韓元。
Mr Newman adds that in the second and third quarters Samsung Electronics—which sells more smartphones than anyone else—shipped more devices than operators could shift, leaving them with bigger inventories than usual.
紐曼先生補充說，在第二和第三季度，三星電子比其他任何公司銷售了更多的只能手機，比起運營商賣出了更多的設備，使得它們剩下了比以往更多的庫存。
So Samsung probably shipped fewer to them in the fourth quarter.
因而三星在第四季度可能給它們減少了配額。
But over the whole year, shipments grew by half and Samsung won market share from Apple at the pricier end of the market.
但是從全年來看，出貨量增加了一半，并以市場中更高的價格從蘋果公司那贏得了更多額市場份額。
Operating profits were up substantially, too, Mr Newman says; just the timing was different.
紐曼說：營業利潤也在持續增加，只是時間不同而已。
A more niggling worry is that the company is starting to find the market for mobile devices harder work.
一個更為讓人費神的擔憂是，三星公司正在為移動設備的硬件尋找市場。
IDC, another research firm, expects smartphone shipments to grow by 18.4% a year between 2013 and 2017.
另一家研究公司IDC預計，從2013年到2017年，只能手機的出貨量將增長18.4%。
That sounds dandy for Samsung, but the fastest growth is in cheaper phones, where competition is getting fiercer and margins thinner.
這對三星公司來說似乎是極好的，但是增長最快的是廉價手機，而這一塊的市場競爭日益激烈，利潤也日益單薄。
Dozens of Chinese companies are making cheap devices that are improving all the time. IDC predicts that average prices will fall by 7.3% a year.
眾多的中國公司都在不斷研發更好的廉價移動設備，IDC公司預計平均價格會以7.3%的幅度下滑。
However, given Samsung's sheer scale and the range of its phones at all prices, it is probably as well placed as anybody.
然而，考慮到三星的市場份額以及它的手機覆蓋所有的價格范圍，這使得三星比其他任何公司都處在更好的位置。
Analysts at Nomura, a bank, point out that although cheaper smartphones command lower margins than dearer ones, they are at least more profitable than basic builder's phones.
一家銀行的分析人士指出，盡管智能手機比起廉價手機更有利可圖，但它們起碼比民工手機賺錢。
And the margins on Samsung's tablets are rising.
并且三星平板的利潤也在上升。
Breadth was, in effect, Samsung's pitch at CES.
未來發展應用的廣度，實際上才是三星在電子消費品展覽會上所強調的。
As well as its gargantuan TVs it showed off new tablets, washing machines and more—and a platform called Smart Home, on which all manner of appliances could be controlled from inside or outside the home.
包括會上展示的巨型電視、新型平板、洗衣機以及更多的設備，并展示了一個名為智能家庭的平臺，通過這一平臺所有的家用設備都能在室內或是室外操控。
The connected home has been a technologists' dream for years: the industry is about to find out how many people want it in reality.
這種智能連接方式一直是技術人員多年的夢想：這個產業就是要發現在現實生活中有多少人想要實現這種智能的連接方式。
Mr Bay may have been lost for words, but Samsung is not lost for ideas—nor for money.
邁克爾·貝可能會忘了詞，但是三星從來不缺想法或是資金。
