安卓生态圈的"去谷歌"之战

The phone in your pocket is probably an Android device, and if you live in a western country, it is almost certainly running the Google version of Android and thus is bristling with Google’s services: Gmail, YouTube, Docs and more.

你口袋里的手机可能是一部安卓(Android)手机，如果你居住在一个西方国家，你手机上运行的几乎肯定是谷歌(Google)版的安卓操作系统，上面安装有Gmail、YouTube、Docs等各种谷歌服务。

The raw figures for Android’s market share make it look as though Google dominates the smartphone world: of the 301.3m smartphones shipped in the second quarter of this year, 84.7 per cent were Android devices, up from 79.6 per cent in 2013, according to analysts IDC. But those figures hide a more complex story about how difficult it is to build an ecosystem and bring customers into it.

从有关安卓市场份额的粗略数据来看，谷歌似乎在智能手机领域占据着主导地位。IDC的数据显示，在今年二季度发货的3.013亿部智能手机中，安卓手机的占比为84.7%，高于2013年的79.6%。但这些数字掩盖了一个更复杂的情况：建立一个生态系统并吸引用户进入这个系统是多么困难。

The next biggest player on the mobile OS scene is Apple, which in September made a bold bid to draw users further into its clutches with the launch of a wearable device, the Apple Watch, and, more importantly, its Apple Pay system.

在移动操作系统领域，市场排名第二的是苹果(Apple)。9月，苹果推出了一款可穿戴设备Apple Watch，更重要的是还推出了Apple Pay系统，这一大胆举动旨在进一步把用户拉入自己的阵营。

Apple’s iOS has been losing market share, according to IDC: in the second quarter of this year, it accounted for 11.7 per cent of mobile device shipments, down from 13 per cent in the same quarter last year. Apple’s early-mover advantage has been eclipsed by the roaring success of Android.

IDC数据显示，苹果iOS系统的市场份额在不断缩小，今年二季度，iOS系统手机仅占智能手机发货量的11.7%，低于去年同期的13%。安卓系统的大获成功，令苹果的先发优势荡然无存。

Google maintains and develops the “official” version of Android, but the operating system itself is open-source, which means anyone can fiddle with it, change it, add to it and take bits away, as Amazon and Nokia, for example, have done with their operating systems have done with their operating systems for, respectively, the Kindle Fire and the Nokia X range.

谷歌维护并开发“官方版”安卓，但该系统本身是开源的，这意味着任何人都可以对之进行修改，例如，亚马逊(Amazon)和诺基亚(Nokia)对Kindle Fire和Nokia X系列搭载的安卓操作系统都做了自己的改动。

Google leads the Android Open Handset Alliance, an association of device-makers such as Sony, LG, Samsung and Lenovo, mobile operators such as T-Mobile and Vodafone as well as chipmakers Arm, Qualcomm and Intel, and software companies, including eBay and, of course, Google.

谷歌领导着安卓“开放手机联盟”(Open Handset Alliance,OHA)，该联盟的成员包括索尼(Sony)、LG、三星(Samsung)和联想(Lenovo)等设备制造商，T-Mobile和沃达丰(Vodafone)等移动运营商，安谋(Arm)、高通(Qualcomm)和英特尔(Intel)等芯片制造商，以及eBay等软件公司，当然也包括谷歌。

In return for membership of the OHA, members can create devices that Google will license its services to. It is important to note that while Android itself is open-source and free to use, Google’s services are not. Members of the alliance also pledge not to “fork” Android – in other words, create their own versions that exclude Google services.

联盟成员开发的设备，谷歌将授权其使用谷歌的服务。有必要指出，尽管安卓系统本身是开源的，可以免费使用，但谷歌的服务就不一样了。联盟成员也承诺不“分化”(fork)安卓系统——换言之，不开发排除谷歌服务的安卓版本。

This is all great for Google, as it means its data-collecting apparatus, with its access to your email, searches, location data and so on, is in the hands of millions of people to whom “relevant” adverts can be directed.

这对谷歌很有利，因为这意味着，其数据收集设备——可以读取你的电邮、搜索记录、位置数据等信息——可以到达大量用户手中，在此基础上就可以向用户投放有针对性的广告。

There is, however, a big part of the Android ecosystem that is nothing to do with Google. This is most significant in China, where Google and its services are persona non grata. But there are also trouble spots on the radar outside China that should worry Google.

然而，安卓生态系统中有很大一部分跟谷歌毫无关系，这一点在谷歌及其服务不受欢迎的中国表现得最为明显。但在中国以外地区也有一些问题值得谷歌担忧。

Google’s biggest concern is Samsung. The search giant’s relations with the South Korean smartphone maker have been strained, as Samsung has fired warning shots that indicate it probably doesn’t need Google as much as Google needs Samsung, which is by far the biggest vendor of Android OHA devices.

谷歌最该担心的是三星。这家搜索巨头与该韩国智能手机制造商的关系变得紧张，三星已经放了一声警示枪，暗示其对谷歌的需要可能小于谷歌对其的需要。三星是OHA中最大的安卓设备厂商。

Samsung has been tinkering with an alternative operating system, Tizen, and includes its own mail and other services alongside Google’s on its Galaxy Android devices. In theory, Samsung could drop Google’s version of Android and focus on developing Tizen further or move to the non-Google version of Android.

三星一直在鼓捣一个替代操作系统Tizen，而且其Galaxy安卓设备上除装有谷歌服务，也置入了三星自己的邮件等服务。理论上，三星可以放弃谷歌版安卓系统，集中精力打造Tizen系统，或者转向非谷歌版的安卓系统。

That version is the Android Open Source Project – the one developers work with when they don’t want to join forces with Google. AOSP is free and is the version that Amazon has used in its Fire devices. Nokia used AOSP to create the well-received Nokia X range before Microsoft assimilated Nokia’s devices division and killed the project.

这种非谷歌版安卓系统属于安卓开源项目(Android Open Source Project,AOSP)，当开发者不想跟谷歌联合时可以加入这个项目。AOSP是免费的，亚马逊在其Fire设备上便使用了AOSP。诺基亚使用AOSP开发了颇受欢迎的Nokia X系列产品，后来微软(Micrsoft)吞并了诺基亚手机部门，废弃了该项目。

Amazon and Nokia would do well to look to China, where local providers have built strong ecosystems on the AOSP version of Android. In hardware, Xiaomi has 31.6 per cent of the urban Chinese market, according to Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel, the market research company. “Xiaomi is the model that works,” she says.

亚马逊和诺基亚可以把目光投向中国，中国当地厂商已基于AOSP版安卓打造了强大的生态系统。市场研究公司Kantar Worldpanel的研究总监卡罗琳娜•米拉内西(Carolina Milanesi)表示，在硬件方面，小米(Xiaomi)已占据中国城市31.6%的市场份额。她说：“小米模式很有效。”

What works in China is a package of services delivered via the hardware. At the end of last year, Gartner, the research company, noted: “Chinese-based internet providers, such as Baidu, Alibaba Group and Tencent, [are] providing local featured apps, services and content through app stores that they themselves operate. This participation is preventing Google from being a major beneficiary of smartphone user growth in the China market.”

在中国有效的模式，是通过硬件提供一揽子服务。在去年底，研究公司高德纳(Gartner)指出：“百度(Baidu)、阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)和腾讯(Tencent)等中国互联网服务提供商（正在）通过自己运营的应用商店，提供具有本地特色的应用、服务和内容。它们的这种参与，使谷歌没能成为中国市场智能手机用户增长的一个主要受益方。”

If Google has lost out in China, it could lose out elsewhere. Microsoft is keen to get its services – , Bing, Office and OneDrive – into more hands, and while its Windows Phone OS has been well received, its market share of just 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year means it has a long way to go.

如果谷歌在中国市场失利，它也可能在其他任何市场落败。微软希望吸引更多人使用其服务——、必应(Bing), Office和OneDrive；尽管其Windows Phone(WP)操作系统颇受欢迎，但今年二季度其市场份额仅为2.5%，意味着微软还有很长的路要走。

Intriguingly, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has been reported as talking to Cyanogen, which maintains a popular AOSP fork of Android. While Microsoft is unlikely to be considering buying Cyanogen, partnering with it to provide services as part of the package makes sense.

耐人寻味的是，微软首席执行官萨蒂亚•纳德拉(Satya Nadella)据报道正与Cyanogen洽谈。Cyanogen维护着一个人气颇高的安卓AOSP系统。微软不大可能考虑收购Cyanogen，但与其合作提供部分服务还是可行的。

Here’s a blue-sky suggestion for Mr Nadella: sit down with Jeff Bezos at Amazon to develop a good fork of Android. Microsoft has a compelling services offering but an almost non-existent platform for these services, despite the quality of the Lumia handsets. Amazon has compelling content with its Prime video but seems unable to get consumers to buy its Fire devices.

这里给纳德拉提一个堪称奇思妙想的建议：与亚马逊的杰夫•贝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)坐在一起，讨论开发一款优秀的安卓分支系统。微软提供强大的服务，但没有搭载这些服务的平台，尽管Lumia手机质量不错。亚马逊通过Prime视频提供强大的内容，但看来无法吸引消费者购买其Fire设备。

For smaller providers, a Microsoft-Amazon-style joint venture would be a great way to become part of an ecosystem out of Google’s reach. I suspect consumers would find that attractive. How about it, Satya and Jeff?

对于规模较小的服务提供商来说，像微软与亚马逊这样的合作是一个很好的方式，将吸引它们加入一个摆脱了谷歌影响的生态系统。我觉得这对用户是有吸引力的。不知贝佐斯和纳德拉意下如何？