已在国内和新兴市场赢得用户的中国手机企业开始涌向欧洲。作为曾经全球估值最高的“独角兽”企业，小米(Xiaomi)正准备把“数十万部”手机发往西班牙。
Xiaomi, like peers Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, is banking on its sophisticated handsets and cheaper price tags to win share from global giants Apple and Samsung. By some measures, Chinese smartphone makers are catching up fast: Counterpoint consultancy puts Huawei’s global market share in the third quarter at 9.8 per cent to 11.7 per cent for Apple — although that is the quarter when Apple buyers may have held off ahead of the new iPhone launch.
像同行华为(Huawei)、Oppo和Vivo一样，小米正利用其尖端手机和较低价格从全球巨头苹果(Apple)和三星(Samsung)手中抢夺份额。以某些标准衡量，中国智能手机企业正在快速赶上来：咨询公司Counterpoint认为，第三季度华为的全球市场份额为9.8%，苹果则为11.7%——不过在第三季度，有些苹果买家也许为等待新iPhone发布而没有出手。
Speaking ahead of a trip to Madrid, Wang Xiang, who will head up Xiaomi’s global expansion, said the move into western Europe was a milestone. “Spain is our first stop in the developed market,” he said.
将出任小米全球业务负责人的王翔在前往马德里之前表示，进入西欧是个里程碑。“西班牙是我们进入发达国家市场的第一站，”他说。
Vivo, for its part, is targeting Russia as its first foray into Europe. Xiaomi, Vivo and stablemate Oppo have been hugely successful in India, a market where Chinese handset makers dominate. While Xiaomi has come undone in the past from its bold ambitions, it has turned round its fortunes.
Vivo正瞄准俄罗斯作为进入欧洲的第一个目标。小米、Vivo和Oppo已在印度取得了巨大成功。目前，中国手机厂商主宰了印度市场。尽管小米过去未能实现其大胆的目标，但已扭转了其命运。
To smooth their path into developed markets, Chinese companies are banking on patent acquisition and the growth of online sales and marketing.
为了顺利切入发达国家市场，中国企业正借道于专利收购，以及在线销售与营销的发展。
“One of the advantages is that there’s no national border in the internet world,” said Mr Wang. “The European continent is all connected, so if we can do well in Spain, other western European countries will be much easier for us; [it’s] just a matter of time.“
“优势之一是互联网世界里没有国界，”王翔说，“目前，欧洲大陆已全部联网在一起，所以，如果我们在西班牙能做得好，那么其他西欧国家对我们来说也将容易得多;(这)只是个时间问题。”
In the past, he said, observers had highlighted Xiaomi’s patent issues. “But over the past three years, we made big progress in patents. We have applied for 16,000 to 18,000 patents and we have got over 4,800 patents around the world, also including the patents we acquired from Intel and Nokia.”
他说，过去观察人士一直在强调小米的专利问题。“过去3年，我们在专利方面取得了巨大进展。我们申请了1.6万至1.8万项专利，目前在全世界拥有超过4800项专利，其中也包括我们向英特尔(Intel)和诺基亚(Nokia)购买的专利。”
However, analysts see patents as one of the biggest tripwires for Chinese device makers. Pointing to the big troves of intellectual property held by the likes of Ericsson and Nokia, Counterpoint research director Peter Richardson noted that “Europe is an environment where IP is asserted very strongly and they are waiting for [Chinese players] to put their heads above the parapet and then clout them with IP lawsuits.”
然而，分析人士把专利视为中国手机厂商的最大难题之一。Counterpoint研究总监彼得•理查森(Peter Richardson)提到了爱立信(Ericsson)和诺基亚等公司持有的海量知识产权。他指出，“在欧洲的环境下，知识产权得到强力维护，他们正等着(中国玩家)把头探出护墙，然后用知识产权诉讼攻击这些玩家。”
Huawei has largely avoided this given its own large IP portfolio, he added. 他接着说，鉴于华为本身拥有庞大的知识产权，该公司基本避免了这一难题。
As in other markets, Xiaomi plans to sell in Europe through both online platforms and physical stores.
正如在其他市场那样，小米打算通过线上平台和实体店两个渠道进行销售。
Vivo and Huawei, meanwhile, have used splashy sponsorships and celebrity marketing to woo buyers overseas. Huawei has co-opted actress Scarlett Johansson while Vivo has gone for sport, sponsoring the Indian Premier League in 2015 and will sponsor the Fifa World Cup until 2023.
另一方面，Vivo和华为利用引人注目的赞助和名人营销去争取海外买家。华为与斯嘉丽•约翰森(Scarlett Johansson)合作，而Vivo从体育方面入手，于2015年赞助了印度板球超级联赛(Indian Premier League)，并将在2023年前一直赞助国际足联世界杯(FIFA World Cup)。
“Overseas markets are very important to us,” said Alex Feng, a vice-president of international business at Vivo, which plans to launch in Africa early next year.
“海外市场对我们非常重要，”Vivo全球副总裁冯磊(Alex Feng)说。Vivo计划在明年初进军非洲市场。
Huawei, which earns more than half its smartphone revenues from outside China, says it is winning share in European markets including Spain, Italy and Germany. It had a market share of nearly 15 per cent in western Europe last year, according to GfK analysts.
一半以上智能手机收入来自海外市场的华为表示，它正在包括西班牙、意大利和德国的欧洲市场赢得份额。GfK分析师表示，去年华为在西欧市场的份额接近15%。
The Shenzhen-based group, which also supplies telecoms kit, has benefited from bundled distribution deals with carriers. Xiaomi does not have this luxury, noted Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys, “so its progress will not be as stunningly fast as Huawei’s. But as older brands such as Alcatel, HTC and LG Electronics . . . increasingly fall out of carrier portfolios, Xiaomi has an opportunity to step up and fill this gap.”
这家也供应电信设备的深圳集团受益于跟运营商之间签订的捆绑销售协议。Canalys的分析师本•斯坦顿(Ben Stanton)指出，小米享受不到这一条件，“所以，它的进展将不如华为那样快得令人吃惊。但是，随着阿尔卡特(Alcatel)、HTC和LG电子(LG Electronics)……等更老品牌日益掉出运营商的供货商名单，小米有机会加快步伐，填补这一空白。”
