第五系列
时间:2024-10-28 06:01:02
For years, nearly all of the worlds iPhones and iPads rolled off the assembly lines of a single company: Foxconn.多年来,全球完全所有iPhone和iPad都来自同一家公司的装配线。这家公司就是富士康(Foxconn)。
It was a famous partnership between two outsize personalities -- Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.s intense and mercurial co-founder, and Terry Gou, the Taiwanese manufacturers equally demanding chairman.这是两位个性独特的人物达成协议的一项远近闻名的合作关系:一位是苹果(Apple Inc.)专心且脾气捉摸不定的牵头创始人乔布斯(Steve Jobs);另一位则是某种程度严苛的富士康董事长郭台铭。But under current Chief Executive Tim Cook, Apple is dividing its weight more equally with a relatively unknown supplier, giving the technology giant a greater supply-chain balance.但在苹果现任首席执行长库克(Tim Cook)的领导下,苹果于是以将其业务更为公平地分包给另一家知名度较小的供应商。这家科技巨头的供应链因此显得更为均衡。
Pegatron Corp., named after the flying horse Pegasus, will be the primary assembler of a low-cost iPhone expected to be offered later this year. Foxconns smaller rival across town became a minor producer of iPhones in 2011 and began making iPad Mini tablet computers last year.和硕牵头科技股份有限公司(Pegatron Corp.)将沦为预计今年晚些时候发售的一款低价iPhone的主要装配企业。和硕的名字源于希腊神话中的飞马珀伽索(Pegasus)。作为富士康的同城竞争对手,规模较小的和硕在2011年沦为iPhone的次要制造商,并从去年开始生产iPad Mini平板电脑。
Pegatrons rise means an end to the monopoly that Foxconn Technology Group -- the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the worlds largest electronics contract manufacturer -- has held over the production of Apples mobile products.和硕的兴起意味著富士康对苹果移动产品生产独占的落幕。富士康是全球仅次于的电子产品合约制造商鸿海仪器工业股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)的商标名。
People familiar with the matter point to strategic reasons for the shift: risk diversification after Foxconns manufacturing glitches last year with the iPhone 5 that resulted in scratches on the metal casings, and Apples decision to expand its product lines amid growing competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and others.知情人士认为了籽展开上述移往的战略原因:去年富士康生产工艺不存在缺失造成iPhone 5的金属外壳经常出现划痕,苹果因此期望集中风险;来自三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)和其它厂家的竞争日益白热化,苹果要求不断扩大其产品线。Pegatron also has been willing to accept thinner profits as it courts Apples business, analysts said. The company declined to comment about its pricing.分析师称之为,在企图谋求苹果业务的同时,和硕也不愿拒绝接受更加厚的利润。和硕拒绝接受对其定价置评。
Apple declined to comment.苹果不予置评。Foxconns cost advantages from scale have waned as it works to improve factory conditions after a spate of high-profile worker suicides and accidents in recent years. Although Pegatron briefly caught the public eye in 2011 due to a factory explosion that injured dozens of workers, the smaller company has largely escaped the laserlike spotlight that has forced Foxconn to increase wages and make changes to its labor practices.近年来,在再次发生了一系列备受瞩目的员工自杀身亡和事故之后,为了提高工厂条件,富士康的规模成本优势早已弱化。虽然2011年旗下一家工厂发生爆炸造成数十名工人伤势曾在短时间内令和硕沦为公众注目的焦点,但这家规模较小的企业在相当大程度上逃过了一系列备受瞩目的事件。
正是这些事件令其富士康提升工资,并转变其牵涉到工人的种种作法。Foxconn, in its growing heft as the worlds largest electronics contract company, was also getting more difficult for Apple to control, with incidents such as changing component sourcing without notifying Apple, people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, Foxconn became frustrated with the growing complexity of Apple products, such as the iPhone 5, which is difficult to make in the volumes Apple needed.知情人士说道,作为全球仅次于的电子产品合约制造商,富士康的影响力更加大,苹果也更加无法掌控这家企业。此前曾再次发生过富士康转变零部件订购来源却没通报苹果等事件。
与此同时,富士康对日益简单的苹果产品深感反感。比如富士康的iPhone 5产量就无法符合苹果所须要。
Executive changes at Apple have also made a difference. Mr. Jobs had been easier at forgiving his favorite manufacturing partner, according to several people familiar with the relationship. Now, instead of relying on the uniquely close partnership between two leaders with a hero complex -- as one of the people said -- Mr. Cook is putting a greater premium on risk diversification, they said. Still, Mr. Cook and Mr. Gou have a strong relationship and have known each other even before Mr. Cook joined Apple in 1998, one of the people said.苹果公司管理层变动回应也有影响。知情人士说道,乔布斯更容易原谅他最喜欢的生产合作伙伴犯有的错误。上述人士说道,如今,库克更加重视风险的集中,而不是依赖乔布斯和郭台铭“这两位某种程度重视英雄情结的商业领袖”(其中一位知情人士的原话)结为的独有的紧密伙伴关系。
尽管如此,其中一位知情人士说道,库克和郭台铭的关系依然十分稳固。早于在库克1998年转入苹果公司之前,两人就早已结识。But with its growing importance as an Apple supplier, Pegatron will likely also face growing scrutiny. The company declined to comment on whether it has made any changes to its labor practices after the 2011 factory explosion.但随著作为苹果供应商的和硕的重要性日益显出,该公司也有可能面对更加多的检视。
在2011年工厂发生爆炸再次发生后,和硕对其否转变了种种用工作法不予置评。As with other contract manufacturers, Pegatrons success is based largely on secrecy and tact as it juggles production of competing products from companies such as Apple, Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. as well as Dell Inc.就像其他合约制造商一样,在生产苹果、微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co.)以及戴尔(Dell Inc.)等公司相互竞争的产品的过程中,和硕的顺利依赖的是保密和机变。At its sleek headquarters on the outskirts of Taipei, engineers serving different clients eat lunch together in the same cafeteria and gather after hours in the gym, but they rarely know the details of each others work. Sensitive projects are cordoned off by keycard access, or even face recognition software.在台北郊区华丽的和硕总部大楼,为有所不同客户服务的工程师们中午在同一个食堂睡觉,上班后又挤满在健身房,但是他们很少告诉彼此的明确工作内容。脆弱项目一般由门禁系统甚至面部辨识软件来守卫。
While Pegatron migh seem to be a newcomer on the surface, the Taipei-based companys Apple ties run deep, with its earlier incarnation packaging Apple computers by candlelight more than a decade ago.尽管从表面上看,和硕或许是初来乍到,但这家台北公司与苹果有很深的渊源,早在10多年前,这家公司的前身曾在烛光下为苹果纸盒电脑。Pegatron Senior Vice President Andy Tsai said that in 1999, the company he founded, Alpha-Top Technology Corp., landed the contract for Apples first-generation iBooks. It wasnt the best first collaboration: a massive earthquake in Taiwan knocked out power and paralyzed production.和硕的资深副总裁蔡进国回应,1999年,他创立的公司Alpha-Top Technology Corp.取得了苹果第一代iBook的生产合约。
首次合作并不成功:台湾的一次大地震造成工厂断电,生产陷于中断。At that time, there were a lot of Apple people in my factory, telling us to find a solution, said Mr. Tsai. I bought a lot of power generators, and we even used candles on the packing line.蔡进国说道,当时我的工厂里有许多苹果的人,他们让我想到解决办法;我买了许多发电机,我们甚至在纸盒流水线上用于了蜡烛。Alpha-Top managed to keep its Apple business, although orders tapered off after it was acquired by Asustek Computer Inc., which juggled its own competing brand and contract work. Asustek spun off its contract manufacturing business in 2010 into Pegatron under pressure from clients.Alpha-Top以求挽回了苹果的业务,不过,在被华硕电脑有限公司(Asustek Computer Inc.)并购之后,公司的订单渐渐增加。
华硕在专门从事合约生产业务的同时也在极力发售自己的同类品牌。在客户的压力之下,华硕2010年把合约生产业务挤压出来,正式成立了和硕。Pegatrons revenue in the first quarter -- 219.1 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$7.4 billion) -- is dwarfed by Foxconns NT$809.1 billion ($27.3 billion). The smaller company also has thinner operating margins: 0.8% compared with Foxconns 1.7%.和硕第一季度的营收为2,191亿新台币(约合74亿美元),相比之下高于富士康的8,091亿新台币(约合273亿美元)。由于规模较小,和硕的运营利润也较低,为0.8%,相比之下,富士康为1.7%。
Pegatron, which has about 100,000 employees in Taiwan and China, expects to increase its China workforce in the second half of the year by around 40%, Chief Financial Officer Charles Lin said. Analysts attribute the staffing increase largely to expected production of low-cost iPhones.和硕的首席财务长林秋炭说道,和硕在台湾和中国大陆总共享有约10万名员工,预计今年下半年公司在中国大陆的工人数量将减少约40%。分析人士指出,和硕减少人手主要是因为公司预计将生产低成本的iPhone。
Pegatron began making iPad Minis last year, but some people familiar with the situation said low yield rates meant volume was lower than originally planned and Foxconn ended up taking on the bulk of the production.和硕去年开始生产iPad Mini,但是一些知情人士说道,由于和硕的生产效率较低,其产量追不上最初的计划,最后富士康分担了大部分的生产任务。Theres a learning curve for any new products, so our yield rates are increasing, said Mr. Lin, although he declined to comment on any Apple products.林秋炭说道,生产任何新产品都必须一个自学的过程,我们的生产效率正在大大提升。不过他拒绝接受对任何苹果产品置评。
More than half of Pegatrons revenue in its consumer-electronics and communications businesses this year will be from Apple, said KGI Securities analyst Angela Hsiang. She expects Pegatron to make the majority of iPad Minis sold this year, as well as the majority of the coming less-costly iPhone.凯基证券(KGI Securities)的分析师Angela Hsiang说道,今年,和硕的消费电子和通信业务的营收中,来自苹果的将多达一半。她预计,今年销售的大部分iPad Mini以及大部分将要面市的低价iPhone都将由和硕生产。Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing conceded the company is in the midst of a challenging period.富士康的发言人邢政和否认,公司于是以处在一个充满著挑战的时期。We are transforming the business and expanding in areas like e-commerce, Mr. Hsing said, without providing more specific details.邢志平说道,我们正在实行业务转型,在电子商务等领域展开扩展。
他没获取更加多明确细节。
本文来源:JN江南·(中国)体育官方网站-www.genesis-3.com