阿里巴巴投资新浪微博意在挑战安卓

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s investment into China's social media giant will likely be instrumental in one of its key ambitions: challenging the dominance of Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system in China's fast-growing smartphone market.

投资中国社交媒体巨头的决定可能有助于阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)实现其一个重要目标：在中国快速增长的智能手机市场上，对谷歌(Google Inc.)安卓(Android)操作系统的主导地位发起挑战。

Known primarily for its e-commerce heft in China, Alibaba is redesigning its business for the mobile Internet era by stepping up investment in its own smartphone operating system. Its $586 million investment in Sina Corp.'s (SINA) Twitter-like Weibo microblog business on Monday followed an earlier move this month to promote its mobile platform.

阿里巴巴集团在中国主要以其电商业务而闻名。通过加大对它自己的智能手机操作系统的投资力度，该公司正在为适应移动互联网时代的到来重新调整业务。阿里巴巴集团周一向新浪公司(Sina Corp.)与推特(Twitter)类似的微博业务投资了5.86亿美元，此前，阿里巴巴集团上个月对其自己的手机操作平台进行了宣传推广。

'If you are a big Internet company and you are ambitious enough in the mobile space, you have to do more than apps,' Alibaba Chief Strategy Officer Zeng Ming said in a recent interview. 'Otherwise, you are just a small species in an ecosystem controlled by others.'

阿里巴巴集团的首席战略长曾鸣最近接受采访时说，如果你是一家大型互联网公司，在移动领域有足够的抱负，你就不能仅限于做应用程序；否则的话，你只是一个由他人控制的生态系统中的一个小物种。

A tighter grip over Sina Weibo, which has 46.2 million daily active users, could enable Alibaba, whose Taobao shopping site has more than 500 million registered users, to have access to vast swaths of data. And having control over the operating system is the best way to gain access to all the mobile-based data, Mr. Zeng said.

新浪微博拥有4,620万每日活跃用户。加强对新浪微博的控制能够使阿里巴巴获得大量数据。阿里巴巴集团旗下的淘宝(Taobao)购物网站拥有超过5亿注册用户。曾鸣说，对手机操作系统进行控制是获得所有与手机有关的数据的最佳方式。

'Data on mobile phones are so valuable,' he said. 'In one way or the other, you can make some money out of it,' even though Alibaba is still working on specific ways to do so, he said.

他说，手机上的数据非常有价值。你可以通过某种方式利用这些数据赚钱，不过阿里巴巴目前仍在寻找具体的方式。

While Alibaba makes money through advertisement and service fees, how to monetize data accumulated through its online services--be it on PCs or mobile--has been a challenge.

尽管阿里巴巴集团可以通过收取广告费和服务费盈利，但如何利用通过网络服务获取的数据(包括个人电脑和手机中的数据)来赚钱，一直是阿里巴巴集团面临的一个挑战。

The fledgling Alibaba Mobile OS, or AMOS, faces an uphill battle against Android, which, according to research firm IDC, powered more than 80% of all smartphones shipped in China last year. Apple's iOS held around 10%. Alibaba is aiming for a 10% share, even though its current market share is less than 1%, Mr. Zeng said.

初出茅庐的阿里巴巴集团的手机操作系统面临着与安卓操作系统的艰难竞争，根据研究公司IDC的数据，中国去年销售的智能手机中，有超过80%搭载的是安卓系统。中国只有约10%的手机使用苹果(Apple Inc.)的iOS操作系统。曾鸣说，阿里巴巴的目标是让自己的手机操作系统占据10%的市场份额，但它目前的市场份额还不到1%。

Alibaba's OS has become a source of controversy. In September, Google objected to Acer Inc.'s (ACEIY, 2353.TW) plan to sell a smartphone powered by Alibaba's OS. As Acer is part of the Google-led Open Handset Alliance, the U.S. firm said that the Taiwanese computer maker couldn't work with a 'noncompatible' version of Android. Alibaba rejected the view that its OS was an Android fork, but the Acer phone was never released.

阿里巴巴的操作系统已经成为争议之源。去年9月，谷歌反对宏碁股份有限公司(Acer Inc.)计划销售一款搭载阿里巴巴操作系统的智能手机。谷歌说，由于宏碁是谷歌主导的“开放手机联盟”(Open Handset Alliance)的一员，因此它不能销售搭载与安卓不相兼容的操作系统的智能手机。阿里巴巴否认其操作系统是安卓的变体，但上述宏碁手机从未发布。

'If quite a few handset companies decide to choose Alibaba's OS, Google will have to be careful in how far they want to push it,' even if the handset makers belong to the Open Handset Alliance, said Mr. Zeng. Google declined to comment.

曾鸣说，如果不少手机厂商决定选择阿里巴巴的操作系统，那么谷歌就得小心了，它不得不考虑为了打压阿里巴巴愿意走多远，哪怕此过程涉及的手机厂商是“开放手机联盟”的一员。谷歌对此不予置评。

Alibaba, founded in 1999, initially became known for its Alibaba.com business-to-business site connecting Chinese suppliers with buyers, but it has since expanded with websites for consumers. Taobao is an eBay-like marketplace for small merchants, while Tmall hosts online storefronts for retailers including brands such as Gap Inc. (GPS).

阿里巴巴成立于1999年，最初是因为旗下企业对企业(B2B)网站Alibaba.com出名，该网站将中国的供应商和采购商联系在一起。但此后阿里巴巴的业务继续扩大，推出了数个企业对顾客(B2C)网站。其中的淘宝类似eBay，它为小商户提供了一个交易市场。而天猫则为包括Gap Inc.在内的品牌零售商提供网上店面。

'Weibo could bring a boost to Alibaba's mobile-based businesses,' said Canalys analyst Rachel Lashford. The key is how closely they can work together in sharing customer bases and making each other's platforms more attractive, she said. 'The deeper the cooperation, the bigger the benefits.'

研究机构Canalys的分析师拉什福特(Rachel Lashford)说，微博有可能提振阿里巴巴的移动业务。她说关键在于二者在分享客户基础、提升彼此平台的吸引力等方面能够在多大程度上进行密切合作。合作的层次越深，合作的收益越大。

Earlier this month, Alibaba announced new steps to promote its OS, through subsidies to handset makers and a one-billion-yuan ($162.1 million) funding program for app developers. The company is also working with telecommunications operators to make it possible for consumers to buy AMOS-based smartphones without paying deposits or down payments, depending on creditworthiness based on their activities on its e-commerce sites.

本月早些时候，阿里巴巴宣布了新的措施以推广其操作系统：向手机制造商提供补贴，并为应用程序开发人员提供一个人民币10亿元（约合1.621亿美元）的资助计划。该公司还与电信运营商展开合作，争取让用户无需预存话费或支付首付款就能得到基于阿里巴巴操作系统的智能手机。用户能否享受这项政策将主要取决于他们在阿里巴巴旗下电子商务网站的信誉。

One factor that could work in Alibaba's favor: In China, Google faces challenges due to Beijing's restrictions, despite growth in some of its online advertising services. The company has pulled out its search service out of Chinese mainland disagreements over censorship. In China, many Google services such as Gmail and Google Maps aren't available on Android-based devices, and Chinese users, without access to the Google Play app store, get apps from other local stores. In March, a Chinese government research institute accused Google of using Android's dominance to discriminate against local companies. Google declined to comment on the accusation.

一个可能有利于阿里巴巴的因素是：在中国，尽管谷歌的部分网络广告业务实现了增长，但由于北京的限制，它面临种种挑战。由于在搜索结果审查一事上同中国政府存在分歧，谷歌将搜索业务撤出中国内地。在中国，包括电子邮件服务Gmail和谷歌地图(Google Maps)在内的许多谷歌服务无法在安卓设备上使用。由于无法登陆Google Play应用程序商店，中国用户只能从其它本地应用程序商店下载应用程序。今年3月，中国政府一家研究机构指责谷歌利用安卓的主导优势歧视本地企业。谷歌拒绝对这一指控发表评论。

Given the restrictions on Android's services in China, Alibaba could make its OS more competitive by seamlessly integrating Weibo's service and also taking advantage of its Alipay affiliate's expertise in mobile payment, said Ms. Lashford.

拉什福特说，鉴于安卓服务在中国面临的种种限制，阿里巴巴可以通过无缝集成新浪微博的服务并利用旗下支付宝在移动支付领域的专业经验来提升其操作系统的竞争力。

'You have to compete differently in the mobile space, rather than simply leveraging your strength in the PC-based market,' Mr. Zeng said.

曾鸣说，在移动领域你必须采取不同的竞争策略，而不仅仅是利用你在基于个人电脑的市场上的优势。