In most of the world, the success of Apple's “walled garden” of proprietary software has two elements.
在世界的大多數國家中,蘋果公司專有軟件的封閉平臺的成功有兩個因素。
First, its attractive services: users tend to be addicted to its iTunes music shop and iBooks store.
首先是蘋果軟件誘人的服務,用戶一般會沉迷于它的iTunes音樂商店和iBooks商店。
Second, the complexities involved in switching from an iPhone to another device without losing music files or having to re-download apps.
其次,從iPhone切換到其他設備而不丟失音樂文件或必須重新下載應用程序又紛繁復雜。
Neither factor works as well in China.
不過這兩點在中國卻不起作用。
There, many of Apple's services have not taken off.
蘋果公司的許多服務也并沒有成功。
The American giant missed the boat on music sales in the country, reckons Matthew Brennan of China Channel, a technology consultancy.
中國頻道的技術顧問Matthew Brennan 認為,蘋果公司錯失了在中國銷售音樂的機會。
Its sales of books are blocked by the government.
政府也阻止蘋果出售書籍。
In addition, few would disagree that its messaging service is a flop and that Apple Pay, its mobile-payment offering, is irrelevant—its market share on the mainland is only 1%.
App Annie, a research firm, reckons it is the world's biggest Apple app store, as measured by revenue.
從收益上來說,Annie(一家研究型軟件公司)認為大陸得蘋果應用商店是全球最大的。
But Apple's results for the first quarter of the year showed total sales falling by some 14% in greater China compared with a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter of decline.
在今年的第一季度,蘋果在中國的業績與去年相比較下降了14%,銷售額連續五個季度下降。
Canalys, a market-research firm, estimates that shipments of iPhones on the mainland plunged by a quarter in the first quarter.
一家市場研究公司Canalys估計,蘋果在大陸的出貨量會在第一季度減少四分之一。
►be addicted to 沉迷于
例句:Many of the women are addicted to heroin and cocaine.
這些女人中很多人都吸食海洛因和可卡因成癮了。
►total sales 銷售總額
例句:The total sales went up by20% compared with that of the year before.
與前年相比,總銷售額上升了20%。
►in part 部分的;某種程度的
例句:In part this attitude was due to fear of trade union and employee reactions.
在某種程度上,這一態度是由于害怕工會和雇員的反應。
►In addition 另外的
例句:You need money and time; in addition, you need diligence.
你需要錢和時間,此外還需要努力。
●Hostilities have now broken out with Tencent.
現在,蘋果公司已對騰訊有所不滿。
The two had co-existed happily: since richer Chinese prefer iPhones to Android phones, these devices are where WeChat made much of its money.
But earlier this year, WeChat launched “mini-programmes,” a form of lightweight app that operates independently of Apple's app store and robs it of revenues.
Apple, meanwhile, had disliked but tolerated WeChat's practice of allowing users to reward generators of content (for example, opinion columns) with small tips.
同時,蘋果并不喜歡微信允許用戶通過打賞來獎勵文章的原創者(例如專欄),但是卻不得不容忍。
These bypass Apple's own payments mechanism.
微信的打賞功能繞過蘋果自己的支付機制。
On April 19th Apple obliged WeChat to shut down tipping.
4月19號,蘋果公司要求微信關閉打賞功能。
Another front in the fighting is that the American firm's mainland app store accepts Alipay, a payment service from China's Alibaba, but not WeChat's payment offering.
Broadly, WeChat is going from being a social-media platform (akin to Facebook and WhatsApp rolled into one) to becoming a mobile-operating system, putting it on a collision course with Apple.
Rumours are swirling among tech experts about what might happen next.
技術專家對于接下來將會發生什么也是眾說風云。
Apple is trying to fortify its position.
蘋果公司努力加強自己在中國的地位。
It is investing heavily in its large network of stores and research labs on the mainland; and it plans to include China in the first wave of countries in which its highly anticipated new iPhone will be launched later this year.
But Apple is on the defensive, whereas Tencent is firmly on the attack.
不過,蘋果現在處于防御狀態,騰訊則一直處于進攻狀態。
Mr Brennan speculates that Tencent might even launch a WeChat phone, which would make Tencent's offering completely independent of the iPhone.
Brennan預測騰訊甚至可能會推出微信手機,能夠使騰訊推出的軟件完全獨立于蘋果手機。
Anywhere else in the world, it would be foolish to go up against the Californian giant.
無論哪個國家的公司,與蘋果公司作對是不明智的。
In China, though, the native firm may have the advantage.
但是在中國,本土公司也許有優勢。
As Connie Chan of Andreessen Horowitz, an investment fund in Silicon Valley, puts it: “Loyalty is much, much stronger to WeChat than to Apple in China.”