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Stung badly by soaring sales of foreign-made smartphones and tablets, Japan's electronics makers are fighting back with a bevy of hi-tech tablets they hopes will turn the tables on the dominant Apple iPad.
受到國外制造的智能手機和平板電腦銷量一路飆升的嚴重刺激，日本的電子產品制造商們推出了一批高科技平板電腦，試圖收復失地。他們希望借此扭轉蘋果（Apple）iPad一統天下的局面。
Sony (SNE) is setting its hopes on the svelte, bantam-weight, waterproof Xperia Tablet Z. It aims to duplicate the success of the popular smartphone of the same name, says the firm.
索尼公司（Sony）將復興大業的希望寄托在了極致輕薄防水的Xperia Z平板電腦上。與這款平板電腦同名的Xperia Z手機在市場上反響不錯，索尼希望Xperia Z平板電腦也能復制成功。
Panasonic (PC), meanwhile, is hitching its star to a tablet with so-called 4K technology that it claims displays images at four times greater resolution than existing high-definition resolutions. Both are aimed at the premium end of the tablet spectrum, where Japan tablet makers expect to find their niche. At around $500, the Z's price is steep compared to other tablets on the market but could set new standards for competitors, say analysts. Sony claims its Xperia Tablet Z is the world's slimmest tablet, and Japan's lightest.
而與此同時，松下公司（Panasonic）則將其采用4K技術的平板電腦捧為明日之星。這種技術號稱能用比現有高分辨率還高四倍的分辨率顯示圖像。這兩款產品都旨在奪取平板電腦高端市場，這也是日本平板廠商希望占據的細分市場。Z的售價約為500美元。分析師稱， 跟市面上其他平板相比，這個價格實在高昂，但它或許能為對手樹立一種全新標準。而索尼則稱，自己的Xperia Z平板是全球最纖薄、日本最輕盈的產品。
Some think the Z and its ilk could help pull Sony out of a vast financial hole. Recently the firm reported losses for the last quarter of 2012 of 10.8 billion yen. It has been the demand for tablets, particularly those from Apple (AAPL), that has helped to end Sony's and Japan's hardware hegemony over the world's gadgets and piled up its red ink. Sony is still struggling to catch up, says technology consultant Nobuyuki Hayashi, especially with the iPad. "Japanese manufacturers are making so many tablets … but I haven't seen anyone using them," he says.
有些人認為，Z及其家族產品或能幫索尼擺脫嚴重的財務困境。近期索尼財報稱，它在2012年最后一個財季損失高達108億日元。對平板電腦的需求，尤其是對蘋果平板的需求已使索尼和日本硬件廠商統治全球電子產品的局面宣告終結，同時也讓這些廠商出現巨額赤字。技術咨詢員林信行稱，索尼還在努力趕超競爭對手，尤其是iPad。他說：“日本廠商生產了太多平板，但我沒看到有多少人在用。”
It must be particularly galling for Japan's tech industry to miss out on the tablet bonanza. It is estimated Japan supplies 20% to 30% of the parts for the iPad. (They are mostly assembled in China.) Sony, meanwhile, produced tablet computers long before Apple. Trouble was, nobody wanted them. Domestic demand for such gadgets was always poor until, that is, the iPad debuted here nearly 3 years ago. "Tablet adoption is very late in Japan. Of course, this is expected to change," says Tokyo-based publisher Xavier Marchand.
錯過了平板電腦這個富礦一定讓日本的科技產業其特別難堪。據估計，iPad（多數都在中國組裝）有20%到30%的零部件是由日本提供的。而索尼其實早在蘋果之前就開始生產平板電腦了。麻煩在于，沒人真正想買索尼的這些產品。而日本國內對這類電子產品的需求一貫低迷，直到iPad三年前橫空出世，局面才為之一變。位于東京的出版商夏維爾?馬查德稱：“日本人很晚才用上平板電腦。當然，這種情況是有望改變的。”
According to analysts at IDC Japan, 3.6 million tablets were sold in Japan in 2012, although another estimate from Yano Research suggests figures are closer to 4.2 million -- nearly twice the number sold in 2011. Yano expects sales to reach 5.6 million for 2013. Apple still accounts for the majority of sales here it says. "The iPad mini has been doing fairly well I don't know if the cumulative has exceeded that of iPad," says Hayashi. (According to IDC it has.) "Then after a big gap come Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, and Kobo. And then, perhaps, on distant sixth place are Sony, followed by Toshiba, NEC, etc.," he says.
據市場研究公司IDC日本稱，2012年日本共賣出了360萬臺平板電腦，而矢野經濟研究所則稱，這個數字接近420萬臺——幾乎是2011年全年銷量的兩倍。矢野還預計，2013年這一數字將達560萬臺。該研究所還表示，蘋果公司仍然占據著銷售額的大頭。林信行稱：“iPad mini非常暢銷，我不清楚它的累計銷量是否已超過了iPad。”而IDC則稱iPad mini確實已超過了iPad。他說：“在第一名身后很遠的位置是Kindle Fire、Nexus 7和Kobo。可能索尼只能遠遠地排在第六位，然后才是東芝（Toshiba）、NEC和其他品牌。”
Where Japan's beleaguered tech firms see their chances is in the development of products for business users, particularly in Japan where the salaryman so far remains generally nonplussed by tablets. Panasonic's new 4K offering, for example, hopes to edge out Apple in the market for creative professionals like photographers, designers, architects, and engineers. To compete, Japan Inc. is also eyeing more tie-ups with outside companies. Panasonic's new baby was created by partnering with Microsoft (MSFT) and IBM (IBM).
日本普通的工薪族中間，多數人至今還沒對平板電腦入門，因此日本這些身陷困境的科技企業認為，為商業用戶開發產品才是生路所在。比如，松下推出的4K就想在特定市場中擠掉蘋果，即從事創意的職場人士，如攝影師、設計師、建筑師和工程師的市場。為了和眾多對手貼身肉搏，日本公司還盯準了和國外公司合作開發這條捷徑。松下的這款新品就是與微軟公司（Microsoft）和IBM公司合作的產物。
Others like Sharp and Toshiba, however, seem to have lost the plot altogether when it comes to tablets says Hayashi. Ideas for kickstarting their tablet sales seem few and far between. "Toshiba had no clue. So they produced as many sized tablets as they could and see which one size would catch fire. But no one wanted to buy a Toshiba tablet, so I think they are still clueless," he says. "They've stop producing random sizes and are following the popular formats in the market. NEC and Fujitsu are just following the market trends without a clue, too."
林信行還表示，在平板電腦市場上，其他老牌巨頭如夏普（Sharp）和東芝似乎已經完全找不著北了。用來推動其平板電腦銷售的創意似乎少之又少。他說：“東芝毫無頭緒可言。于是他們開足馬力，推出各種尺寸的平板，看看其中哪款能夠賣得火爆。但實際上沒人想買東芝平板，所以我認為他們還是處于茫然的狀態。他們已經不再隨便生產各種尺寸的產品了，開始推出市場上主流的尺寸。而NEC和富士公司（Fujitsu）只是在隨波逐流，自己也沒有想明白。”
