【英语中国】HTC在中国推出新手机挑战iPhone

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. has emerged a strong competitor to Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other smartphones from Samsung Electronics Co. and Nokia Corp., the world's two biggest handset makers. Now, the company is officially in the race to win over China's increasing number of smartphone users.

At a press conference Tuesday, HTC said it is launching four smartphone models under its own name in China in an effort to establish its brand in the world's largest mobile market.

Luckily for the Taiwanese company, Apple has been slow to launch its hot new products here, and has a relatively small presence with a 7.1% share of smartphone sales in the second quarter, according to Analysys International. Only a non-Wi-Fi version of the iPhone 3GS is officially available in China so far, and Apple hasn't yet indicated when it might release a version with Wi-Fi or the iPhone 4. Nokia has a market share of 27%, while Samsung has 18%, Motorola 14% and Sony Ericsson 9%.

If HTC follows through on its promise to make an aggressive branding push, it could pose a bigger threat for Apple, analysts say. CK Cheng, an analyst at CLSA, said HTC is a key beneficiary of China's carriers looking to offer handsets that can compete with the iPhone.

When asked if Apple's relatively small presence in China would present an opportunity for HTC, Chief Executive Peter Chou said he would not comment on his competitors. But when asked about Nokia's leading position in the Chinese smartphone market, he said Nokia's definition of 'smartphone' is 'a feature phone with a touch screen,' whereas HTC believes that smartphones should provide a 'strong Internet experience' and lots of mobile applications.

A spokesman for Nokia declined to comment.

China is unlikely to become a huge market in terms of smartphone sales for any of these global companies overnight. For HTC, the U.S. is still its largest market, and makes up 50% of its sales. But while smartphone users still make up a small part of overall mobile subscribers in China, the market is expected to grow quickly in the next few years. IDC estimates sales will reach 26 million this year, 50% higher than in 2009.

Still, there are challenges to consider in China. 'The biggest problem now for HTC is that their relationships with carriers are relatively weak' in China, where the market is controlled by state-owned carriers. In the U.S. and Western Europe, HTC's high-end phones have benefited from high carrier subsidies, Cheng said. HTC has not yet announced how much its Chinese handsets will cost.

台湾宏达国际电子股份有限公司（HTC Corp. ，简称宏达国际）生产的智能手机已经崛起为苹果公司生产的iPhone手机、三星电子（Samsung Electronics Co.）和诺基亚公司（Nokia Co.）所生产的智能手机的强有力的竞争对手。三星电子和诺基亚是全球最大的两家手机生产商。现在，HTC正式加入了一场旨在赢得日益增长的中国智能手机市场的竞赛。

Reuters在周二的新闻发布会上，宏达国际宣布其正在中国推出以该品牌命名的四种智能手机型号，旨在全球最大的手机市场树立其品牌。

对台湾这家公司来说，幸运的是，苹果公司在中国推广其热门新款产品的步伐缓慢。根据易观国际（Analysys International）的数据，该公司仅占了智能手机二季度销售量的7.1%。截止到目前，在中国的行货市场上仅能买到无Wi-Fi的iPhone 3GS款手机，而且苹果目前还没有表示何时可能推出Wi-Fi版本或iPhone 4。 诺基亚的市场占有率达到了27%，三星为18%，摩托罗拉（Motorola）为14%，索尼爱立信（Sony Ericsson）为9%。

当被问到苹果在中国相对较小的市场份额是否会给宏达国际带来机会时，首席执行长周永明说他不会评价其竞争对手。但是，当被问及诺基亚在中国智能手机市场上的领先地位时，他说诺基亚对“智能手机”的定义是“功能手机加上触摸屏”，然而宏达国际认为智能手机应该具有“强大的互联网功能”，以及许多的手机应用功能。

诺基亚的新闻发言人拒绝置评。

对于这些全球手机生产商中的任何一家来说，中国不可能在一夜之间为其带来巨大的销量。对于宏达国际来说，美国仍然是其最大的市场，占到了其销售量的50%。但是智能手机用户数量在中国只占到了总体手机用户数量的一小部分，在未来几年中，智能手机的市场预计将会增长迅速。互联网数据中心（IDC）估计智能手机的销售量今年将会达到2600万，比2009年高出50%。

当然，宏达国际在中国仍然面临挑战。上述分析师说，对于宏达国际来说，最大的问题是，它与中国运营商的关系相对薄弱，中国市场主要是由国有运营商所控制。而在美国和西欧，宏达国际的高端手机受惠于运营商的高额补贴。宏达国际还没有公布其手机在中国的销售价格。