华为拟发布高端笔记本电脑

Huawei, the Chinese telecoms group, is expanding in the beleaguered PC market, undeterred by slumping sales and the demise of smaller participants.

中国电信设备制造商华为(Huawei)正在低迷的个人电脑(PC)市场寻求扩张，没有被PC销售下滑和较小参与者出局的现实吓倒。

The company, which has revved up sales of handsets and network gear in Asia and Europe but failed to win over Americans due to fears over national security, is expected to bring out a fully fledged laptop later this month.

预计华为将在本月晚些时候推出一款高配置的笔记本电脑。该公司近年在亚洲和欧洲扩大了手机和网络设备的销售，但由于美国方面担心国家安全，华为未能在美国市场打开局面。

It will also bring out a version of the hybrid MateBook introduced last year.

它还将发布去年推出的MateBook二合一笔记本电脑的最新版。

That device, with a detachable keyboard, is similar to Microsoft’s Surface PC/tablet, sales of which fell 25 per cent year-on-year in the latest quarter, partly due to stronger competition.

这款键盘可拆卸的设备类似于微软(Microsoft)的Surface PC/平板电脑，后者的销售在最近一个季度下降25%，部分原因是竞争加剧。

“The smartphone business was tough. Getting into this is going to be even more tough,” one analyst of Huawei’s diversification said.

“智能手机业务很艰难，而进入这个领域将会更加艰难，”一名分析师在谈到华为的业务多元化努力时表示。

Huawei is pitching its laptop at the high end and targeting consumers rather than businesses.

华为将其笔记本电脑产品定位于高端市场，针对消费者而不是企业。

“They are looking to compete with Apple on looks and features,” one person who had a sneak preview said, referring to the MacBook line.

“他们寻求在产品外观和功能上与苹果(Apple)竞争，”曾有机会看到华为新款电脑的一名人士表示，此言指的是苹果的MacBook系列笔记本电脑。

PC and laptop shipments in 2016 fell 6.2 per cent year on year, totalling 269m units, according to research groups Gartner and International Data Corporation.

研究组织高德纳(Gartner)和国际数据公司(IDC)的数据显示，2016年台式和笔记本电脑的出货量下降6.2%，合计2.69亿台。

It was the first time since 2008 — soon after Apple launched the iPhone and smartphone adoption began to rise — that annual PC shipments fell below 300m units.

这是自2008年以来全年PC出货量首次跌破3亿台水平。上一次发生这种情况时，正值苹果推出iPhone不久，智能手机的使用率开始上升。

The rate of decline has slowed, and there are pockets of modest growth, including notebook sales in North America and gaming PCs, according to research consultancy Canalys.

研究咨询公司Canalys表示，PC销售下滑速度已有所放缓，并且局部市场出现小幅增长，包括北美的笔记本电脑销售，以及游戏电脑销售。

“Expanding their PC business is probably the next logical step,” Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys, said.

“扩大PC业务很可能是华为下一个合乎逻辑的步骤，”Canalys分析师本·斯坦顿(Ben Stanton)表示。

“It’s probably the only hole in their portfolio.”

“这很可能是他们的产品组合中唯一的漏洞。”

Huawei pointed yesterday to the strength of its smartphone business — reporting that it shipped 35m handsets in the first quarter, up 22 per cent year-on-year and giving it a 10 per cent share, according to IDC.

华为昨日指出，其智能手机业务表现强劲。根据IDC表示，该公司报告第一季度手机出货量达到3500万部，同比增长22%，市场份额达到10%。

Winning business customers’ trust in a PC device would be vital to its success, said Mr Stanton, noting that Dell and HP spent decades building up reputations.

斯坦顿表示，赢得企业客户对PC设备的信任，对于华为的成功将是至关重要的。他指出，戴尔(Dell)和惠普(HP)都花了数十年时间打造声誉。

Huawei lacks a wealth of partners and distribution channels, “so is at a huge disadvantage in that respect”.

华为缺乏大量的合作伙伴和分销渠道，“因而在这方面处于极大的劣势”。