【英语国际】宏达国际将在大陆出售自有品牌智能手机

HTC Corp. plans to introduce four smartphone models in China under its own name, its chief executive said in an interview, as the fast-growing Taiwanese company extends its brand into China for the first time amid intensifying competition with Apple Inc. and other rivals.

The new phones will include two touch-screen models designed exclusively for China Mobile Ltd., the nation's largest mobile operator with some 554 million subscribers. One of those will be a high-end model running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile operating system, the other a mid-priced device running Google Inc.'s Android operating system. HTC expects the handsets will be available to consumers in September or October.

HTC, once known in the industry primarily as a manufacturer of handsets for other brands, has been selling phones in China under the Dopod name. But the company's own brand has been gaining popularity around the world, and it has decided to start using the brand in China's fast-growing smartphone market, so it can provide more after-sales service to consumers.

'We believe China is a good market for smartphone development,' Peter Chou, HTC's CEO, told The Wall Street Journal. 'Consumers from China will love this kind of product because Internet penetration here is pretty high,' and a large segment of users can afford smartphones. Mr. Chou said price plans for the devices have not yet been set.

HTC's biggest growth globally has come from smartphones running Android. It is the maker of Google's Nexus One device. Its devices are widely seen as among the strongest competitors to Apple's immensely popular iPhone, although HTC's smartphone sales are still far smaller than its U.S. rival's. HTC sold 11.7 million phones worldwide in 2009, a number that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicted in a report this week will soar to 60.4 million units in 2012, thanks in part to the company's strong branding.

HTC's line of branded handsets include the EVO 4G, made for Sprint Nextel Corp. of the U.S., and the Desire and the Wildfire. Those two models will be released in China with mobile operator China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., as part of the company's new China push.

In China, the smartphone battle is at an earlier stage than in many other markets. Apple so far only officially sells a version of its iPhone 3GS in China, where it launched last October, and has yet to say when it will start selling its new iPhone 4. And Research in Motion Ltd.'s Blackberry, another rival, is not as widely used in China as in the U.S.

Mr. Chou estimates that 8% of smartphone users in China know HTC's brand, even though the company has never officially used the brand in the country. He says that ranks HTC second after Nokia Corp., which claims the leading position in the Chinese smartphone market. In part, that's because many consumers purchase HTC phones that have been imported from outside China and sold on the country's gray market.

'It's interesting; before we've come to do anything, we already have pretty high [brand] awareness,' Mr. Chou said. But HTC wants to launch the brand itself 'because we want to provide very good service to customers,' which can't be done through gray market sales.

Still, Mr. Chou predicts that China may not account for a significant contribution to HTC's global sales in the next year. HTC currently earns 80% of its global revenue from the U.S. and Europe, where smartphone sales are strong. Research firm IDC estimates smartphone sales in China will reach 26 million units this year, up 50% from 2009. But they currently make up a small percentage of overall handset shipments in China.

Mr. Chou said HTC will continue to work with its Shanghai-based partner, Dopod Communications Corp. to sell some models in China, even as it ramps up its own brand. He didn't elaborate.

宏达国际电子股份有限公司（HTC Corp.）首席执行长周永明（Peter Chou）在接受采访时说，计划以自有品牌向中国推出四款智能手机。在与苹果（Apple Inc.）等对手竞争日益激烈之际，这家快速增长的台湾企业首次将自己的品牌推广到了中国大陆。

Bloomberg News宏达国际首席执行长周永明新款手机将包括为中国移动专门设计的两款触摸屏手机。中国移动是中国最大的移动电话运营商，约有5.54亿用户。其中一款将是运行微软（Microsoft Corp.）Windows Mobile操作系统的高端手机，另一款是价位中等的手机，运行谷歌（Google Inc.）的Android操作系统。宏达国际预计这些手机将于今年9月或10月面市。

宏达国际在业界一度被认为主要是其他品牌手机的生产商，该公司在中国大陆一直使用多普达（Dopod）的品牌出售手机。但公司的自有品牌在全球得到欢迎，于是决定开始在中国大陆这一快速发展的智能手机市场销售自有品牌手机，这样可以向消费者提供更多售后服务。

周永明对《华尔街日报》说，我们认为中国是智能手机发展的良好市场，由于这里的互联网渗透率相当高，中国大陆消费者会喜欢这种产品，而且大量用户买得起智能手机。周永明说，这些手机的价格计划尚未确定。

宏达国际在全球最大的增长来自运行Android操作系统的智能手机，该公司是谷歌Nexus One手机的生产商。人们普遍认为该公司手机是苹果公司极受欢迎的iPhone最强劲的对手之一，不过宏达国际智能手机的销售要远低于美国竞争对手苹果。2009年宏达国际的全球手机销量为1170万部，高盛集团（Goldman Sachs Group Inc.）在本周报告中预测，部分受益于公司强大的品牌，2012年销量将猛增至6040万部。

宏达的品牌手机阵容包括为美国Sprint Nextel Corp.生产的EVO 4G,，以及宏达Desire和Wildfire。后两款手机将由宏达与移动运营商中国联通联合在华推出，这是宏达在华的新举措之一。

与很多其他市场相比，中国的智能手机大战仍处于较早期阶段。目前为止，苹果仅在中国正式推出了一款iPhone 3GS手机（去年10月推出的），尚未透露何时会开始在华销售其新款iPhone 4手机。另外一家智能手机生产商Research in Motion Ltd.的黑莓(Blackberry)在中国的使用不如美国广。

周永明估计，中国8%的智能手机用户知道宏达这个品牌，即使该公司从未正式在中国使用这个牌子。他说，宏达仅次于在中国智能手机市场排第一的诺基亚(Nokia Corp.)，排在第二。从某种程度上讲，这是因为很多消费者会购买从中国以外进口来的、在水货市场上销售的宏达手机。

周永明说，有趣的是，在我们还没有开始做任何事的时候，就已经有了很高的品牌认知度了；不过，宏达希望推出自己的品牌，因为我们希望向客户提供优质服务，而这是无法通过在水货市场销售手机实现的。

尽管如此，周永明预测，明年的中国大陆市场销量可能不会在宏达的全球总销量中占太大比重。宏达目前有80%的全球收入来自智能手机销售强劲的美国和欧洲。研究公司国际数据公司(IDC)估计，今年中国的智能手机销量将达到2,600万部，较去年增长50%。不过，智能手机在中国整体手机销售中所占的比例仍然很小。

周永明说，就在宏达做强自有品牌的同时，它将继续与位于上海的合作伙伴多普达通讯有限公司(Dopod Communications Corp.)联手在中国销售部分款式的手机。他没有详细说明。