【英语科技】索爱智能手机难把iPhone拉下马

As demand from Europe wanes amid the debt crisis, mobile handset maker Sony Ericsson hopes it can tap strong demand for smart phones in South Korea to spur growth this year. But it won't be an easy task; analysts say Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10, which is set to debut in the country later this month, won't be an iPhone killer even if it'll open up more choices for consumers in the high-growth smart phone category.

That's because Apple's iPhone is selling surprisingly well in South Korea since its debut in the market last year. And there are plenty of cheaper smart phones from local vendors such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Sony Ericsson is working with SK Telecom, South Korea's biggest telecom operator by subscribers, to offer the handset for about $729.

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson, has been struggling over the past few years to stay competitive in the global handset market. While it is the world's fourth largest global handset maker by shipments behind Nokia, Samsung and LG Electronics, just until recently, it was mired in losses while others continued to make a profit. For the three months ended March 31, the company managed to eke a profit of EUR21 million, but that was largely due to lower costs. Sony Ericsson executives are placing a big bet on new high-end smartphones - such as Xperia X10 and Vivaz - which have already started to boost the company's overall average selling price.

Xperia X10 operates on Google's Android operating system and features a 1-gigahertz CPU, a 4-inch touch-screen display, an 8.1 megapixel camera and a 16-gigabyte memory SD card.

'The X10 bests the iPhone with its advanced technology…but it is still a little behind the iPhone in terms of hardware styling, software usability and mobile services,' says Neil Mawston, director at market researcher StrategyAnalytics. 'The smart phone wars have spread from the U.S. to South Korea and this is placing increased pressure on established brands.'

Sony Ericsson says the number of smart phone users in South Korea has doubled from the end of last year to about 2 million in May. Head of Asia Pacific Hirokazu Ishizuka said recently 'Korea is one of the most important markets for Sony Ericsson.'

受债务危机影响，欧洲需求减弱，手机制造商索尼爱立信(Sony Ericsson)期待能从韩国发掘对智能手机的强劲需求以刺激今年的增长。但这并非易事，分析师说尽管本月晚些时候将在韩国上市的索爱Xperia X10手机为消费者在高速增长的智能机领域提供了更多的选择，但它不会成为iPhone杀手。

Sony Ericsson索爱Xperia X10手机本月底将在韩国首发。原因在于：自苹果(Apple) iPhone去年在韩国上市以来，销售出奇得好，而且三星电子(Samsung Electronics)和LG电子(LG Electronics)等本地厂商也推出了大量更廉价的智能机。索尼爱立信正与韩国用户最多的电信运营商SK电讯(SK Telecom)合作，以约729美元的价格销售这款手机。

索尼爱立信是日本索尼公司(Sony)与瑞典爱立信公司(Ericsson)的合资公司，过去几年一直努力保持其在全球手机市场的竞争力。按出货量计，它是世界第四大全球手机制造商，排在诺基亚(Nokia)、三星和LG电子之后。但当其它公司继续盈利之时，它一直深陷亏损的泥潭。直到最近，即今年1至3月，这家公司才勉强盈利2,100万欧元，却主要是由于降低了成本。索尼爱立信公司的高管押大注于Xperia X10和Vivaz等最新高端智能手机，这些手机已开始提高索爱手机的整体平均售价。

Xperia X10使用了谷歌公司(Google)的Android操作系统，拥有1G Hz的CPU、4英寸触摸屏、810万像素摄像头和16G的SD内存卡。

市场研究公司Strategy Analyticsr的董事毛斯顿(Neil Mawston)说，X10在使用先进技术方面优于iPhone，但在硬件外形、软件可用性和移动服务方面仍略逊于iPhone。智能手机的战火已从美国烧到了韩国，为各大知名品牌带来了越来越大的压力。

索尼爱立信说，自去年底到今年5月，韩国的智能手机用户翻番，至200万人左右。公司亚太区负责人石冢弘(Hirokazu Ishizuka)说，近期韩国是索尼爱立信最重要的市场之一。