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苹果与好莱坞娱乐公司合作谈判搁浅

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2017年02月27日

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Apple was an early pioneer in the digital distribution of music and video with the iTunes store. But will it be a player in the next phase of content distribution?

苹果(Apple)凭借iTunes Store成了数字化发行音乐和视频的先驱,但它会是下一阶段内容发行的参与者吗?

The iPhone maker has been stalking Hollywood for more than a year, talking to leading industry players while it tries to formulate a cogent video strategy. It has considered a range of acquisitions and targets including, most recently, Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, according to several people briefed on the discussions.

一年多以来,这家iPhone制造商一直在暗中接近好莱坞,与一些行业领军公司展开磋商,并试图制定一个站得住脚的视频战略。一些获知了这些磋商概况的人士表示,苹果已考虑一系列收购活动,最近的目标是好莱坞制片公司Imagine Entertainment,该公司的所有者为罗恩•霍华德(Ron Howard)和布赖恩•格雷兹(Brian Grazer)。

The talks were serious enough to involve Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Eddy Cue, its senior vice-president of internet software and services. The talks included a possible “first look” distribution deal of Imagine movies and television shows, as well as an investment by Apple — or even a full purchase. But, as with many other potential deals involving Apple, the discussions fizzled out.

苹果对与Imagine的磋商相当重视,表现在首席执行官蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)和负责互联网软件与服务的高级副总裁埃迪•库埃(Eddie Cue)都参与了磋商。磋商内容包括对Imagine影视作品的“先睹为快”(first look)发行协议,以及苹果可能会入股、甚至全资收购Imagine。但就像苹果参与的其他许多潜在交易一样,这些商议失败了。

Imagine, the producer of films ranging from Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code to television shows such as Empire, recently came to the end of a long-term production and distribution deal with Universal Pictures, which is part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal group. A tie-up with Apple, on paper, at least, would have made some sense.

Imagine出品过的电影有《阿波罗13号》( Apollo 13)、《达芬奇密码》(The Da Vinci Code),电视剧有《嘻哈帝国》(Empire),该制片公司与环球影业(Universal Pictures)的长期制作和发行协议最近到期——环球影业隶属康卡斯特(Comcast)旗下NBC环球(NBC Universal)集团。与苹果联姻至少在理论上是有些道理的。

But then, Time Warner, which Mr Cue approached last year about a possible takeover, would have made sense too. Must-have Time Warner content, like HBO’s Game of Thrones, or hit Warner Brothers movies, could have underpinned an Apple video subscription service, strengthening the link between the device maker and its customers.

不过苹果与时代华纳(Time Warner)联姻也应该是合乎逻辑的,库埃去年曾带着收购意愿接触过时代华纳。时代华纳旗下不可错过的内容产品,如HBO的《权力的游戏》(Game of Thrones)、华纳兄弟(Warner Brothers)的热门电影,或许可以支撑起苹果的视频订阅服务,加强这家设备制造商与其客户之间的联系。

Apple has continued to have discussions with potential Hollywood partners. But instead of buying a company, it has put its efforts into just a couple of original series: Carpool Karaoke, a spin-off of the popular segment on James Corden’s Late Late Show, and a reality show called Planet of the Apps. Apple will use the shows to differentiate Apple Music, its streaming service that competes with Spotify.

苹果仍在与潜在的好莱坞合作伙伴进行商议,但其重点已经不是要购买一家公司,而是放在了几个原创节目上:“拼车K歌”(Carpool Karaoke),该节目衍生自《詹姆士科登深夜秀》(James Corden’s Late Late Show)中一个受欢迎桥段;以及“Planet of the Apps”真人秀。苹果将用这些原创节目让Apple Music与众不同——Apple Music是苹果的流媒体服务,竞争对手为Spotify。

At the Code Media conference in southern California this week, Mr Cue played down the notion that Apple would ever buy a media company. “We’re not out trying to buy a bunch of shows, we’re trying to do some things that are creative, that can, we think, move culture,” he said. On Apple’s recent earnings call, Mr Cook said the company has a “toe in the water” in terms of original content.

本周在加州南部举行的Code Media会议上,库埃给苹果早晚会购买一家媒体公司的看法泼了一盆冷水,他说:“我们不打算去买一大堆节目,我们正尝试做一些有创意的东西,我们认为这些东西可以改变文化。”在苹果最近的财报电话会议上,库克表示公司已“试水”原创内容。

This approach has many in Hollywood scratching their heads. Apple’s rounds of meetings with various entertainment industry players suggest it has not yet decided what its strategy should be.

这种方式让好莱坞的许多人士摸不着头脑。苹果与各大娱乐公司一轮轮的会面表明,它尚未决定自己应采取什么样的策略。

It has the firepower to do something meaningful in content production and distribution — a space that is increasingly dominated by Netflix and Amazon. They have each invested billions of dollars in original programming: Netflix has built a global subscriber base of 93m while Amazon’s Prime service and its exclusive original content make people likely to spend in its online store.

苹果有实力在内容制作和发行方面有所作为,这一领域正日益被Netflix和亚马逊(Amazon)主导。两家公司都在原创节目上投入了数十亿美元:Netflix已在全球建立了高达9300万的订阅用户基数,而亚马逊的“Prime service”和独家原创内容促进人们在其在线商店中消费。

Apple could get up to speed by buying a company. Or it could follow Amazon’s model: hire the right talent and give them the backing to get the ball rolling. Amazon made no films in 2015; it released 15 in 2016 and has seven Oscar nominations to show for it, including a best picture nomination for Manchester by the Sea.

苹果可以通过购买一家公司跟上速度。或者,可以效仿亚马逊的模式:聘用合适的人才,并给予他们启动项目的相应支持。亚马逊2015年没有制作任何电影;但在2016年发行了15部影片,获得7项奥斯卡提名,包括《海边的曼彻斯特》(Manchester by the Sea)获得的最佳影片奖提名。

Apple’s stock recently hit an all-time high — and a market value of $700bn — on hopes that the launch of a new iPhone will drive a sales “supercycle”. The prospect of its $230bn overseas cash pile being repatriated to the US under the new Trump administration is also fuelling investor optimism.

苹果的股价最近再创新高、市值达7000亿美元,原因是外界期望新款iPhone的推出将带动一波销售“超级周期”。对苹果将在新的特朗普政府时期把在海外积累的2300亿美元现金汇回国内的预期,也加大了投资者的乐观情绪。

The company has set a target of doubling its revenues from services, such as the Apps Store and Apple Music, to about $50bn in the next four years.

苹果已经确立了在未来4年将来自服务业务——如Apps Store和Apple Music——的收入翻倍至约500亿美元的目标。

It is hard to believe it will reach that target without doing something more meaningful in video. But it may have missed a trick, given broad, global changes in audience behaviour. People increasingly get their entertainment from video subscription services — and they need devices like those made by Apple to watch them.

如果不在视频领域大有作为的话,很难相信苹果能实现这一目标。但鉴于全球观众观影行为的广泛变化,苹果可能已经错失了一个良机。人们越来越多地从视频订阅服务中获得休闲娱乐,他们需要像苹果制造的那样的设备来观看这些节目。

The late Steve Jobs always envisioned a closed environment where Apple’s software platform and device were tightly integrated. In not being more aggressive in video in the past two years, Netflix and Amazon have stolen a march on Apple. Will it come to regret it?

已故的史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)一直设想建立一个让苹果的软件平台和设备紧密融合的封闭环境。由于苹果过去两年未在视频领域更积极地进行扩张,Netflix和亚马逊已经抢到了苹果前面。苹果会为此而追悔吗?
 


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