经济学人:产业升级 手机成全新的旧事物(上)

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　Mobile Phones: The new old thing 手机：全新的旧事物

　　Conformity¹, nostalgia² and 5G were on show at the Mobile World Congress. 在世界移动通行大会上的惯例、怀旧以及5G。

　　“A Sea of sameness.” A veteran of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), Ben Wood of CCS Insight, a consultancy, was not expecting much from the mobile industry's main trade show this week in Barcelona. 来英国著名移动资讯公司CCS Insight的调研主管Ben Wood是全球移动大会的常客，他本人对这周在巴塞罗那举办的移动产业贸易展览会没有过多期待，并称其为“波澜不惊的汪洋大海”。

　　As one product launch followed another, it was easy to lose track. 随着一次又一次的产品发布会，人们很难对其留下什么深刻印象。

　　Whether it was LG, Huawei or Wiko, they all showed off yet more black rectangles with slightly varying specifications³. 无论是LG，还是华为或者Wiko，然而这些手机制造商全都在炫耀只有细微不同说明的手机产品。

　　Another reminder⁴ of the smartphone business's maturity⁵ was that the most talked-about new device was the Nokia 3310 feature phone, an updated version of a phone first made 17 years ago. 智能手机产业的另一个成熟标志就是，本次大会上最为人津津乐道的新款手机是诺基亚的3310型，这是17年前所发布同款手机的全新升级版。

　　With limited internet connectivity, it appeals partly as a “digital detox”, said Arto Nummela, chief executive of HMD Global, a Finnish startup with ex-Nokia executives which licenses⁶ the brand. 来自一家由几位诺基亚前董事创立的芬兰公司HMD Global的执行总裁Arto Nummela表示，由于这款手机本身网络受限，它的出现被看做是“数码排毒”的一种手段。

　　The mobile industry is far from done in terms of genuinely new products. 就最新的产品来看，移动产业远远没有达到顶峰。

　　But the action has moved to parts of the business that do not lend themselves to splashy events and massive crowds  但是，这次活动带来的部分业务并没有引起到人们过多关注。

　　(the tent erected⁷ by Huawei, a Chinese maker⁸ of all sorts of telecoms gear, to launch its new P10 smartphone was huge, but hundreds were still left waiting outside). （中国电子零件制造商华为公司为了发布最新的P10智能手机搭建起来的展台，其影响力是巨大的，但是还剩下数以百计的展商没有得到关注。）

　　Most innovation in the next ten years will happen in the telecoms network rather than in devices, predicts John Delaney of IDC, a market-research firm. 来自市场研究公司IDC的John Delaney预计，在接下来十年内，大部分创新将出现在电信网络中，而不是移动设备上。

　　For now the industry is gearing up for the next generation of wireless⁹ technology, “5G”. 迄今为止，整个行业都在为了下一代无线技术“5G”而加速前进。

分享到：