导读:本周三,苹果公司举行了iPhone 7发布会,但是之后却发出公告说不会公布iPhone 7第一周的销售数据,外界猜测这可能是苹果公司心虚的表现,销售数据可能并不乐观,苹果公司股价也在一夜之间蒸发了1000多亿。
Nothing can dominate the tech world’s conversation quite like a big Apple event. And sure enough, this week’s announcement of the iPhone 7 has spawned several discussions: Shutterbugs liked the phone’s new camera. Nintendo fans rejoiced at Super Mario’s arrival on the iPhone. Music lovers huffed over Apple’s insistence on killing the beloved headphone jack.
没有什么事情能够像一场盛大的苹果发布会那样主宰科技界的对话。果不其然,本周iPhone 7发布会引起了吃瓜群众们好几场讨论:摄影粉们喜欢iPhone 7的新摄像头;超级马里奥登陆iPhone,任天堂粉丝们乐哭了;苹果坚持取消了3.5mm耳机接口,爱听歌的人简直要爆炸。
Then there’s the constituency that’s been giving Apple grief for the past year: its investors. Apple’s stock has lost a fifth of its value since reaching $132 a share in 2015 as stockholders became focused on one primary concern: Has the iPhone, which accounts for nearly two thirds of Apple’s revenue, hit peak popularity?
而另一方面,苹果的投资者们则继续使得这家公司苦不堪言。自从2015年苹果股价达到每股132美元之后,苹果公司市值已经缩水了五分之一,因为股东们现在关注这样一个重要的问题:占据苹果公司收入三分之二的iPhone是否已经达到了极限?
Then came another announcement Thursday morning, one with far less fanfare, that undid all of Apple’s hard work in creating the iPhone 7 and choreographing the hyped-up keynote: Apple said it won’t release the first-weekend sales figures of the iPhone 7, ending a long tradition that frequently pushed up the stock price. In fact, it says won’t be releasing first-weekend sales figures any longer.
然后就有了周四早间的这份远不如iPhone 7发布会那样大张旗鼓的公告,苹果公司创造iPhone 7的辛苦努力和对主题的编制炒作都被这份公告毁于一旦:苹果公司宣布他们不会发布iPhone 7第一周的销售数据。苹果之前每次都会公布新iPhone的销售数据,从而推动自家股票飙升,但是这次却完全不同。事实上,苹果公司宣布以后再也不会公布第一周的销售数据了。
Apple said it expects the new phones will be “incredibly popular” – the kind of vagueness that infuriates metric-obsessed analysts. It also reiterated its guidance for the current quarter. It’s also worth recalling that Apple recently increased by 10% its orders of parts and components from suppliers.
苹果公司表示说,他们预期iPhone 7将会“非常受欢迎”--这种模糊的描述使得数据分析师们异常恼火。苹果公司同样重申了本季度的目标。值得一提的是,苹果公司最近向供应商们增加了10%的零部件订单。
But Apple’s explanation for the move remains unsatisfying. Apple’s statement said initial sales are “governed by supply, not demand” — that is, demand for iPhones is strong enough that any limits on sales will come solely because of limitations on how many phones Apple can produce. But that’s not new for Apple, and it’s not a good reason for shutting off a closely watched metric. Apple didn’t respond to a request to further clarify its announcement.
但是苹果方面对这一举动的解释仍然不能令人满意。苹果在声明中表示说,iPhone 7最开始的销售是“供不应求”--即是说,市场对iPhone 7需求非常强劲,而对于苹果销售额的唯一限制就是苹果公司生产iPhone 7的数量不够多。但是这并不是苹果第一次碰上这种事,因此这并不是苹果不公布详细销售数据的理由。外界要求苹果公司进一步澄清这份公告,但是苹果公司没有做出回应。
The news not only erased any gains Apple posted on the back of Wednesday’s iPhone 7 unveiling, it sent the stock down nearly 3% Thursday, reducing the company’s market value by $15.4 billion in a single day. Rather than shrugging off the news and taking Apple at its word, many observers interpreted it as an awkward attempt to conceal a potential weakness. If anything, it heightened the concern that Apple, still the world’s most valuable company, is struggling to maintain the iPhone’s popularity.
这一消息不但使得周三iPhone 7发布后苹果公司所取得的一切收益毁于一旦,周四的时候还使得该公司的股价暴跌了近3%,使得苹果公司的市值一夜之间蒸发了154亿美元(约合1022亿人民币)。许多评论家并没有轻易地放过这个消息,他们认为苹果公司并不是像其所说的那样强大,而是在尴尬地企图掩饰该公司潜在的弱点。更有可能的是,世界最大公司苹果正在艰难地保持iPhone不被市场淘汰。