三星败诉 苹果成移动市场霸主

Apple Inc. (AAPL) wasn't the only winner in court Friday. Nor was Samsung the only loser.

苹果公司(Apple Inc.)并非上周五法庭上唯一的赢家，三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)也不是唯一的输家。

When the iPhone maker prevailed over the Korean conglomerate in their patent dispute, the big loser may have been Google Inc. (GOOG). In effect, Apple has been fighting a proxy war against the search giant by going after makers of devices running Google's Android mobile operating system-including Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHY, 005930.SE), HTC Corp. (HTCXF, 2498.TW) and Motorola Mobility. They now are fighting directly since Google acquired Motorola in May.

当iPhone制造商苹果在这场专利之争中战胜韩国企业集团三星时，真正的输家可能是谷歌公司(Google Inc.)。其实，苹果一直通过向搭载谷歌安卓(Android)移动操作系统的电子产品制造商（三星、宏达国际电子股份有限公司(HTC Corp.)和摩托罗拉移动(Motorola Mobility)等）发起诉讼，而在与搜索巨头谷歌打一场代理人战争。自从谷歌今年5月收购了摩托罗拉后，苹果和谷歌现在展开了直接较量。

Granted, the case doesn't strike a mortal blow at Samsung's mobile business-the Korean giant can absorb damage costs and engineer around patents it was found to violate-but the verdict does give Apple more momentum. It is suing Android makers in multiple countries and has already scored other legal victories establishing that devices running Android violate its patents.

这个侵权案虽然不会对三星的移动业务造成致命打击(这家韩国巨头可消化损害成本，避开那些被判侵权的专利进行产品设计)，但这个判决结果确实给了苹果更多动力。苹果目前正在多个国家起诉采用安卓系统的手机制造商，并且已经打赢了数场官司，证明搭载安卓系统的产品侵犯了苹果的专利。

Ultimately, Apple appears to want Android makers to redesign their devices so more features are unique to the iPhone.

苹果最终的目的似乎是，让搭载安卓系统的手机制造商重新设计自己的产品，这样iPhone就可以拥有更多独一无二的功能。

As there is no end in sight for the legal battles facing makers of Android devices, they 'will increasingly look to hedge their bets,' argues intellectual-property consultant Florian Mueller. That means looking at other operating systems to run their devices.

知识产权顾问米勒(Florian Mueller)认为，采用安卓系统的手机制造商仍将面临无数官司，因此它们将越来越多地寻求两面下注。这意味着它们开始寻求让自己的手机产品搭载其它操作系统。

Enter Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), whose Windows Phone operating system is backed up by a solid patent portfolio. Indeed, manufacturers like HTC and Samsung not only make Windows Phone devices, they also pay Microsoft royalties on their Android devices. That is because, like Apple, Microsoft says Android trespasses on its intellectual property. So to hedge their Android bet, it makes sense that manufacturers will increase their focus on Microsoft devices.

此时微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)将进入这些厂家的视野，其Windows Phone手机操作系统背后有一系列可靠的专利作支撑。事实上，宏达国际和三星等手机制造商不仅生产Windows Phone手机，他们也会为自己生产安卓手机而向微软支付专利权使用费。这是因为与苹果一样，微软也说安卓侵犯了自己的知识产权。所以，为了上个双保险，制造商多投入一些力量来生产使用微软操作系统的手机也是有道理的。

The California case could be especially helpful to Microsoft in the tablet market. Android had a 60% share of the smartphone market in the 12 months through June, compared with Apple's 20% share, according to Strategy Analytics. But in the tablet market, Android had a 33% share next to Apple's 63% share. No rival tablets compete against the iPad as effectively as, say, Samsung's Galaxy smartphones compete against the iPhone.

这桩加州诉讼案可能尤其有助于提升微软在平板电脑市场上的地位。据市场研究公司Strategy Analytics统计，在截至今年6月底的12个月里，安卓在智能手机市场上占有60%的份额，苹果仅为20%。但在平板电脑市场上，安卓的市场份额则仅为33%，远落后于苹果的63%。没有任何一款平板电脑能像三星Galaxy智能手机对抗iPhone那样与iPad产生有效竞争。

So Microsoft's Surface and other tablets running Windows looked set to be the first real challenger for the iPad when they come out this fall. If this case causes manufacturers to reduce their focus on developing Android tablets, Microsoft would get an added boost.

因此，微软Surface和其它搭载Windows操作系统的平板电脑，它们在今年秋季面市时有望成为iPad的首个真正挑战者。如果这个侵权案令制造商减少对研发安卓平板电脑的关注，微软将得到进一步提振。

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) may want to watch its back. Its Kindle Fire is an Android device. Also, it is one of the only tablets with meaningful sales besides the iPad. And with a 'mini' iPad that competes directly with the Fire likely coming soon, Apple might add Amazon to its list of legal targets. Amazon has a weaker patent portfolio than Google, argues Mr. Mueller.

亚马逊公司(Amazon.com Inc.)可能要小心了。该公司的Kindle Fire就是一款搭载安卓系统的产品，而且是除iPad之外为数不多几个销售业绩还不错的平板电脑之一。由于苹果近期内可能会推出一款可与Fire直接竞争的“迷你”iPad，因此它可能会将亚马逊也列入其诉讼对象名单。米勒认为，亚马逊的专利组合弱于谷歌。

If it was even possible for Apple to have a stronger hand in mobile, this legal victory deals it another trump card. Everyone else is just fighting to sit at the same table.

如果说苹果过去只是有可能在移动市场上拥有更多优势的话，那么打赢这场官司就等于是给了苹果另一张制胜王牌。其它公司现在争夺的不过是与苹果围坐在同一张桌子周围的机会。