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Business: Apple From iPhones to iCars
商業：蘋果，從iPhones到 iCars
Apple is entering the auto business, but the road ahead could be rough.
蘋果進軍汽車業，但前路艱難。
Having redefined the personal-computer and mobile-phone industries, Apple has set its sights on a new, moving target.
在重新定義了個人電腦業和手機業以后，蘋果又將目光聚焦于全新的、移動的目標。
The darling of the tech industry is aiming to debut an electric car in 2019, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
據《華爾街日報》報道，科技行業的寵兒蘋果公司計劃在2019年首次推出電動汽車。
For years there had been speculation that Apple had auto ambitions.
多年來，外界一直猜測蘋果對汽車行業野心勃勃。
It has been hiring swarms of engineers to work on the project, code-named Titan, which now employs around 600.
蘋果已經雇傭了一群工程師啟動了代號為“泰坦”的汽車項目，現在約600名雇員參與研發設計。
With around $200 billion stored up, Apple certainly has enough cash to spend on a new venture.
蘋果公司擁有約2000億美元的資金儲備，這保障其投資這項商業冒險的充足資金。
Its legions of fans are always eager to see it launch a new offering that makes a splash.
長期以來眾多的“果粉”翹首以盼，期望能看到蘋果發布轟動一時的新品。
Its most recent product, the Apple Watch, has not been the massive hit some analysts expected, and Apple's launch event earlier this month was rather dull, showcasing mainly tweaks to existing products.
但是蘋果公司最新發布的產品——蘋果手表，并沒有如分析家預期地那樣造成強大的沖擊。而在本月早些時候，蘋果舉辦的發布會則是相當無聊——主要是展示對已有產品進行的一些改進。
Launching a car would be far more daring and, in theory, highly lucrative.
蘋果公司推出汽車是更為大膽的舉動，從理論上講，能有更高的收益。
Global car sales were worth around $2 trillion last year.
去年全球汽車銷售金額高達約2萬億美元。
However, there are many things about the car business that make it quite unlike peddling phones.
然而，汽車產業的許多特點使其與手機的銷售大不相同。
The replacement cycle for an iPhone is a mere two years.
一般iPhone的更新周期僅為兩年。
Consumers hold on to their cars for far longer.
客戶使用汽車的時間更久。
To make business sense, Apple's cars would need to earn returns comparable to those of its existing products.
商業要更好地運作，蘋果研發的iCar就要賺取高于它現有產品的利潤。
But gross profit margins like Apple's current 40% or so are something most large-scale carmakers can only dream of.
但蘋果現有的總利潤率為40%左右，這是大多數大型汽車制造商夢寐以求的。
At BMW, one of the most profitable of these, such margins are around 20%.
寶馬是利潤率最高的汽車制造商之一，但是也只能達到20%左右。
An even more important factor is that, as demonstrated by all this week's attention on Volkswagen, cars are more heavily regulated than consumer electronics.
正如這周公眾對大眾汽車的關注證明，汽車業相比消費類電子產品面臨更嚴格的監管，這是更為重要的影響因素。
Compliance with safety standards and emissions rules is likely to be more rigorously enforced in future.
在未來會更加嚴格地執行相關措施——滿足安全標準、符合排放規則。
That is a tricky prospect for even the most experienced carmaker, let alone an industry newbie.
即便對最有經驗的汽車制造商而言，前景依然艱難，更不用說行業新手了。
The firm's capabilities in mobile devices will be an advantage, as cars become ever more connected to the internet.
隨著汽車與互聯網的關系愈發密切，蘋果在移動設備上的能力將會成為一個優勢。
But the risks associated with connected cars are of a different order to those with mobile phones.
但是如果發生危險，聯網汽車比聯網手機的后果更加嚴重。
This week it was revealed that malware had infiltrated some of the smartphone apps sold in Apple's store, including two of the most popular apps in China.
本周據有關消息，有惡意軟件入侵了蘋果商店販售的部分智能手機應用，其中包括兩款在中國最流行的應用。
This was embarrassing but not disastrous.
這使得蘋果陷入窘況，但不至于損失慘重。
If similar malware got into an Apple car, the results could be deadly.
如果相似的惡意軟件入侵的是蘋果汽車，那么結果將是致命的。
Such concerns are not enough to discourage tech firms from driving at full speed into the car business.
這樣的擔心并不足以阻止眾多科技公司全力以赴進軍汽車業。
Leading the way is Tesla, a maker of upmarket electric vehicles set up by Elon Musk, a successful tech entrepreneur.
這條路上的引領者是特斯拉——一家由成功的科技企業家埃隆。馬斯克建立的高端電動汽車制造商。
Google is working on a self-driving vehicle and an operating system for cars, and recently hired a former motor-industry executive to run its autonomous car project.
谷歌正在研發自主駕駛汽車和汽車的操作系統，并在近日聘請了一位前汽車行業的執行官來運行這個自主經營的汽車項目。
Apple's decision to enter the motor industry may be fuelled in part by not wanting to leave Google with control of the dashboard and cars' operating systems.
蘋果之所以進軍汽車業，原因之一可能是不想將對汽車儀表盤和汽車操作系統的控制權交予谷歌。
Their rivalry is turning into a road race.
他們的競爭正在轉向汽車業。
譯文編自聶聶
