小米聘谷歌前高管拓展印度市场

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has hired a former Google executive to help drive its push into India, as the company ramps up efforts to expand into the world’s third-largest smartphone market and replicate its success at home.

中国智能手机生产商小米(Xiaomi)已聘用一名谷歌(Google)前高管帮助其开拓印度市场。小米正加紧努力向全球第三大智能手机市场拓展，试图复制其在本土的成功。

The fast-growing company has recruited Jai Mani to be lead product manager for India, Hugo Barra, vice-president of international operations and himself a former Google executive, announced yesterday.

小米国际业务副总裁雨果•巴拉(Hugo Barra)昨日宣布，这家飞速发展的公司已把Jai Mani招至麾下，担任其印度首席产品经理。雨果本人也是一名谷歌前高管。

It underlines Xiaomi’s aggressive growth strategy, which has seen it become one of the largest smartphone sellers in China, recording 240 per cent year-on-year growth, according to Canalys, the research group.

研究集团Canalys分析师表示，此举凸显出小米咄咄逼人的增长战略，这一战略已令其成为中国最大的智能手机卖家之一，同比增长率达240%。

Xiaomi phones have achieved an almost cult-like status in the world’s largest smartphone market, where it overtook Apple in sales last year and is vying with Samsung for top spot.

小米手机在全球最大智能手机市场上已取得近乎偶像般的地位。去年，小米在中国市场的销量超过苹果(Apple)，目前正与三星(Samsung)争夺销量冠军位置。

Earlier this year, Xiaomi announced plans to market its phones abroad, with a move into 10 foreign countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Malaysia. The company has not disclosed any details of international sales.

今年早些时候，小米宣布了将其手机销往海外市场的计划，打算进入巴西、印尼、墨西哥和马来西亚等10个海外市场。小米尚未披露其国际市场销售的详细情况。

The privately held group was valued at $10bn during its last fundraising round in 2013, and launched in India, the fastest-growing smartphone market, in July.

2013年进行上一轮融资时，这家私人持有集团的估值为100亿美元。今年7月，小米登陆了全球增长最快的印度市场。

India’s smartphone market grew 84 per cent year on year in the second quarter of this year, according to IDC, with vendors shipping 18.42m handsets.

IDC数据显示，今年第2季度印度智能手机市场同比增长84%，厂家发货量达1842万部。

In particular, low-end smartphone sales are increasing rapidly as India’s 650m mobile phone users upgrade their handsets to access everything from social media to the latest cricket scores.

低端智能手机的销量在印度市场上增长尤其快。印度6.5亿手机用户正在升级手机，以便使用从社交媒体到获知最新板球赛事比分的所有功能。

Xiaomi is “for the cost-conscious consumer so it would be very successful for the Indian market”, explained Jessica Kwee, analyst at Canalys. “Their growth trajectory in India is going to be quite significant in these first few quarters.”

小米手机是“为对价格敏感的消费者制造的，所以它在印度市场上将非常成功，”Canalys分析师Jessica Kwee解释道。“最初几个季度，他们在印度的增长将会相当快。”

The company’s push into India could prove especially tricky for Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker by sales, which has already been hit hard by increased competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo.

对于全球智能手机销量冠军三星而言，小米杀入印度市场可能被证明尤其棘手。在小米、华为(Huawei)和联想(Lenovo)等中国厂家越来越激烈的竞争下，三星已受到了沉重打击。

In India, the South Korean group is the market leader with a 29 per cent share, but local manufacturers such as Karbonn and Micromax are also gaining ground, with 8 per cent and 18 per cent market share respectively.

在印度，这家韩国集团以29%的份额居于市场领导地位，但Karbonn和Micromax等当地厂商也在变得更强大，这两家厂商的市场份额分别为8%和18%。