黑莓叫停智能手机硬件业务

BlackBerry, the pioneering smartphone maker, is to stop making its own handsets and pull out of the devices business, as the company behind the tiny Qwerty keyboard once coveted by the corporate world focuses on selling software and services.

　　智能手机制造先驱黑莓(BlackBerry)将停止生产自己的手机，退出硬件业务，这家曾经推出一度被商界渴求的迷你型QWERTY键盘的公司今后将致力于销售软件和服务。

　　The Canadian group said it would “end all internal hardware development” with immediate effect, and license its brand and software to third-party manufacturers who would develop phones bearing the BlackBerry badge.

　　这家加拿大集团表示，将立即“停止所有内部硬件开发”，并将其品牌和软件授权给第三方制造商使用，后者将开发带有黑莓标识的手机。

　　“It’s the end of the line for the firm’s hardware business,” said Nick McQuire, an analyst at CCS Insight.

　　CCS Insight分析师尼克•麦夸尔(Nick McQuire)表示：“这是该公司硬件业务的终局。”

　　At its zenith in 2008, BlackBerry accounted for one in every five smartphones sold, after its handsets became a staple for business executives. Designed to be as easy for writing emails as making phone calls, they eventually captured the consumer market too.

　　在2008年巅峰时期，每销售的5部智能手机当中就有一部是黑莓手机，其手机成为企业高管的标配。由于用黑莓手机写邮件和打电话一样方便，它最终也捕获了消费者市场。

　　As sales soared, the company’s market value hit $80bn, compared with roughly $4bn today.

　　随着销量飙升，黑莓市值达到800亿美元，相比之下，如今只有40亿美元左右。

　　Since its peak in popularity it has haemorrhaged sales in the face of strong competition from Apple and Samsung, as well as low-cost Asian manufacturers, leaving it with a share of the global smartphone market that is practically a rounding error: 0.1 per cent, according to Gartner.

　　黑莓自那以来盛极而衰，手机销量由于遭到苹果(Apple)和三星(Samsung)以及低成本的亚洲制造商的激烈竞争而大幅下滑，它在全球市场的份额实际上仅剩下了一个零头：高德纳(Gartner)的数据显示，它的份额仅为0.1%。

　　Revenues from the company’s smartphones slumped to $105m in the latest quarter, compared with $417m in the same period last year.

　　该公司最近季度的智能手机收入暴跌至1.05亿美元，去年同期为4.17亿美元。

　　Shares in BlackBerry gained 2.6 per cent in early trading in New York as the company predicted the moves would boost profitability John Chen, chief executive, said it had signed a licensing deal with BB Merah Putih, an Indonesian joint venture led by one of the country’s largest telecoms groups, PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia, which would have sole responsibility for making, promoting and distributing devices in the region.

　　黑莓股价纽约早盘时分上涨2.6%，因为该公司预计这些举措将会提升盈利能力。黑莓首席执行官程守宗(John Chen)表示，该公司与BB Merah Putih签署了授权协议，后者是印尼最大电信集团之一PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia旗下的合资企业，它将拥有在该地区制造、营销和经销手机的独家权利。

　　The company is exploring similar deals with groups in India and China, he said.

　　他说，该公司正在探索与印度和中国的公司达成类似协议。

　　But in regions such as the US and Europe, a hardcore of loyal BlackBerry customers or “Crackberry addicts” will struggle to buy new devices, unless the company finds a partner, Mr Chen said.

　　但程守宗表示，在美国和欧洲等地区，黑莓铁杆客户或“瘾莓”将很难买到新的黑莓手机，除非该公司找到合作伙伴。

　　“My new model is to ramp down the selling of hardware anywhere — but we might have partners to sell it,” he said.

　　他说：“我的新模式是减少所有地方的硬件销售——但我们可能有合作伙伴愿意销售。”

　　BlackBerry’s departure from the smartphone business is the most radical step taken by Mr Chen, who joined as chief executive in 2013 with a pledge to transform it into a security-focused software company. He has expanded the software division through acquisitions, including Good Technology, a mobile security provider, and AtHoc, a company that helps build emergency alert systems for governments.

　　黑莓退出智能手机业务是程守宗推出的最为激进的举措，后者在2013年加入黑莓担任首席执行官，并承诺让黑莓转型为聚焦安全的软件公司。他通过收购移动安全提供商Good Technology和AtHoc等公司扩大了软件部门。AtHoc是一家帮助政府打造紧急警报系统的公司。