視野越來越狹隘正成為電子產(chǎn)業(yè)的一個(gè)問題。一家公司以及少數(shù)的幾種產(chǎn)品就能主宰一個(gè)規(guī)模達(dá)兆級美元的市場，同時(shí)也讓眾多的業(yè)界廠商、OEM、組件供貨商、軟件供貨商以及其它第三方服務(wù)供貨商們難以在智能型手機(jī)、平板計(jì)算機(jī)以及數(shù)字音樂播放器以外找到巨大銷售成長的潛力。 如果你還不明白我在此所要表達(dá)的論點(diǎn)，那么我就更直截了當(dāng)?shù)卣f吧！ 除了蘋果公司(Apple)及其 iPad 、 iPhone 、 iPod 與更多即將出現(xiàn)的 iProducts 以外，電子產(chǎn)業(yè)中還有更多值得關(guān)注的事物。對于一個(gè)即使歷經(jīng)不景氣的沖擊而在半導(dǎo)體市場仍能達(dá)到3,000億美元年銷售額以及全球營收超過1兆美元的電子 產(chǎn)業(yè)來說，我們似乎并沒注意到一個(gè)事實(shí)──高科技世界并不是以蘋果公司為主而發(fā)展起來的。盡管蘋果公司的銷售量十分巨大，也具有高度的成長潛力，但還有更 多的機(jī)會(huì)存在于各種軟件與硬件開發(fā)環(huán)境，而我十分擔(dān)心我們將會(huì)因目光短淺而錯(cuò)過這些機(jī)會(huì)。 例如，去年我參加了一場恩智浦半導(dǎo)體(NXP Semiconductors)公司在參展美國國際照明展(Lightfair)中所舉行的產(chǎn)品發(fā)表會(huì)。我看到了一些馬上就想把它帶回家安裝起來的酷炫產(chǎn)品。這些產(chǎn)品的照明燈具(燈泡)與電源插座均采用無線芯片，NXP并為我們展示如何透過一款簡單的遙控器遠(yuǎn)程控制家中所有的燈光與插座。 你可以從客廳檢查并確認(rèn)家中所有燈光的關(guān)關(guān)狀態(tài)，你也可以看到哪一個(gè)電源插座還在使用中(例如不小心讓電熨斗插頭還插在電源插座上)，并盡快從遠(yuǎn)程遙控開啟 或關(guān)關(guān)。你還可以控制并調(diào)節(jié)家中電爐、暖氣系統(tǒng)、熱水器、電視、音響系統(tǒng)、戶外燈光、安全系統(tǒng)和雨篷等。任何能連接到電源的設(shè)備都能在遠(yuǎn)程進(jìn)行控制開關(guān)或安排。真是太吸引人了！ 原來，從我的智能手機(jī)就可以在遠(yuǎn)程實(shí)現(xiàn)這些任務(wù)──只要手機(jī)具有無線接收功能，不管是從芬蘭、蒙古或在紐約附近的辦公室都可以做得到。這并不是未來即將實(shí) 現(xiàn)的夢想，而是現(xiàn)在正發(fā)生中的事。歐洲一些電力公司對于這些照明創(chuàng)新產(chǎn)品特別有興趣，他們除了部署智能電網(wǎng)以外，目前也已經(jīng)開始計(jì)劃推出這一類的照明商 品。 這不禁讓我好奇業(yè)界在實(shí)現(xiàn)這一場照明革命方面究竟已經(jīng)發(fā)展到什么程度了？我一方面對此感到無比興奮，另一方面也夾雜著些許的感傷：整個(gè)業(yè)界與買家們是多么地沉迷于消費(fèi)性電子產(chǎn)業(yè)中的單一領(lǐng)域──智能手機(jī)與平板電腦，而忽略了還有其它擁有更美好前景以及更節(jié)能的領(lǐng)域。 此外，當(dāng)今的媒體對于蘋果公司即將發(fā)表或更新的產(chǎn)品報(bào)導(dǎo)與預(yù)測可說是不遺余力。這種著迷的現(xiàn)象是全球性的──在加拿大，《環(huán)球郵報(bào)》(The Globe & Mail)甚至提供蘋果公司產(chǎn)品發(fā)表會(huì)的“現(xiàn)場報(bào)導(dǎo)”。報(bào)上討論到一種所謂的“iPad熱潮”(iPad fever)，我很懷疑我們是否就是推動(dòng)這種氛圍持續(xù)上升的一群。在美國，大部份的新聞媒體也都有人隨時(shí)待命，持續(xù)提供對蘋果新產(chǎn)品發(fā)布的相關(guān)報(bào)導(dǎo)與評論。甚至在蘋果公司本身尚未對于新聞發(fā)布會(huì)是否跟iPad發(fā)布有關(guān)的種種預(yù)測加以確定或否認(rèn)以前，我個(gè)人就已經(jīng)接收到好幾封各家分析師的種種評論。 當(dāng)然，我們不應(yīng)該嫉妒蘋果公司帶給消費(fèi)者和媒體的善意，只是還有許多發(fā)生在業(yè)界中的事物也值得我們密切關(guān)注。當(dāng)我們將所有關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)完全放在單一產(chǎn)品領(lǐng)域與 一家公司時(shí)，我們同時(shí)也錯(cuò)過了更重要或更廣大的方向。古有明訓(xùn)：“獨(dú)木不成林”就是這個(gè)道理。機(jī)會(huì)是為具有創(chuàng)意的設(shè)計(jì)、軟件應(yīng)用程序與制造而存在的。 銷售的機(jī)會(huì)也為消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)業(yè)的其它領(lǐng)域而開啟，如照明、創(chuàng)造就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，以及為機(jī)警的投資者帶來投資成長的新領(lǐng)域。但許多人甚至不知道有這些新領(lǐng)域的存在，包括在這個(gè)產(chǎn)業(yè)中的公司，由于受到普遍流行的思考方式所影響──如果你沒有一款專為iPad、iPhone或iPod等相關(guān)產(chǎn)品開發(fā)的設(shè)計(jì)，你彷佛不存在業(yè) 界一樣。 讓我們再回過來看看LightFair照明展。NXP是我在照明展中唯一參訪的半導(dǎo)體公司。事實(shí)上，半導(dǎo)體業(yè)界還有 其它廠商；PCB；封裝廠，以及互連、被動(dòng)與機(jī)電(IP&E)產(chǎn)品市場，均銷售產(chǎn)品至這個(gè)新興的照明產(chǎn)業(yè)，但許多公司因?yàn)檫€未能看到該領(lǐng)域的營收 成長潛力，所以并未參展LightFair。在此我想特別強(qiáng)調(diào)，事實(shí)上這一照明市場擁有巨大的成長潛力，在應(yīng)用方面，從燈泡開始一直延伸到家中的所有設(shè) 備。 在LightFair照明展上，NXP的高層主管解釋，這種新型的照明產(chǎn)品十分簡單，不僅燈泡可隨插即用，同時(shí)也改變了 電源連接插座，因而不必再為家中重新布線。iPad和平板電腦或許真的就像許多人認(rèn)為地那么創(chuàng)新，但在我們的產(chǎn)業(yè)中也還有更多可能推動(dòng)成長的新事物──如果我們能夠張大眼睛好好地去尋找這些新機(jī)會(huì)。 編譯：Susan Hong 本文授權(quán)編譯自EBN Online，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文：There's More to Consumer Electronics Than Apple & the iPad，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief

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{pagination} There's More to Consumer Electronics Than Apple & the iPad Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief Tunnel vision is becoming a problem for the electronics industry. One company and a handful of products are dominating discussions in a trillion-dollar market, and this is making it difficult for many industry players, OEMs, component vendors, software vendors, and other third-party services providers to realize potentials for huge sales growth outside of smartphones, tablet PCs, and digital music players. If you haven't got the drift of my argument here, let me put it a bit more bluntly: There's a lot more to the electronics industry than Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and whatever other iProducts are coming down the pike. For an industry where annual semiconductor sales have barreled even through a recession to hit more than $300 billion, and where global electronics revenue exceeds $1 trillion, we all seem to be oblivious to the possibility the high-tech universe does not revolve around planet Apple. The company's sales are huge and its growth potentials tremendous, but opportunities exist elsewhere for hardware and software development, and I am afraid we are missing many of these. Here's an example: I attended a presentation given one year or so ago by NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI) at the annual LightFair International Convention held in Philadelphia and saw some cool stuff I wished I could right away install at home. They had wireless chips installed in lighting fixtures (bulbs) and electrical outlets. The presenter demonstrated how you could control all the lights and outlets in the house from a simple remote controller. From the living room, you could check and make sure all lights in all sections of the house were off or on, depending on your preference. You could see which outlets were being used (for instance, if the iron is plugged in and inadvertently left on) and turn these on or off. You could also control (switch on or off and program) your stove, heating system, hot water boiler, TV, stereo system, exterior lights, the security system, awning, etc. Anything that can be connected to a power source can be remotely powered off or on and programmed. Fascinating. The guy had me, seriously. Then he sank the hook in deeper. It turns out I can do all of these from my smartphone, remotely -- from Iceland, Mongolia, Senegal, or a nearby office in New York -- as long as I have wireless reception. I was sold. This wasn't some futuristic thing. It's here now, the NXP presenter said, and all I had to do was engage with some company that has partnered with the European chip vendor to bring these to market. Power supply companies in Europe are particularly interested in these lighting inventions and are beginning to roll these out, in addition to their deployment of smart meters. A recent blog by EBN Europe contributor Jennifer Baljko brought this back to my mind and got me wondering how far the industry has gone in implementing this lighting revolution. (See: Wireless Connectivity & the ROI Conundrum.) I also watch with some amusement and a dash of disappointment how the industry and buyers have become obsessed with only one segment of the consumer electronics industry -- smartphones and tablets -- ignoring other sections that promise even greater utility and savings. Today, the media is devoting a lot of time and attention to speculations that Apple is about to unveil an update to its iPad tablet PC. The obsession is a global phenomenon; in Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper is providing "live coverage of Apple's product announcement." The paper talked about "iPad fever," and I wonder if we are not the ones driving up temperatures artificially. In the US, most news organizations have writers on high alert to provide running commentaries on the event. I have personally received several emails from analysts commenting on the Apple event, whereas the company itself has not confirmed or denied the speculations that the announcement would be about the iPad. OK, we shouldn't begrudge Apple the goodwill it has with consumers and the media, but there's still a lot more happening in this industry that deserve some attention. By focusing solely on one product segment and company, many of us are missing out on the bigger picture. Never has the worn adage "a tree does not make a forest" been more relevant, in my opinion. Opportunities exist in lighting for creative designs, software apps, and manufacturing. Sales opportunities are opening up in other segments of the consumer electronics industry like lighting, creating jobs and offering astute investors new areas for investment growth. But many, including companies operating in this industry, don't even know about these new areas because the prevailing sentiment is that if you don't have a product designed into the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, or the next-generation products from Apple, you don't exist. Let me return to the LightFair event. NXP was the only semiconductor company at the show I attended. There are others in the semiconductor; PCB; enclosures; and interconnects, passives, and electromechanical (IP&E) markets that also sell products into the fledgling lighting industry, but many chose not to attend LightFair because they didn't see the potentials here for revenue growth. I'd like to spell it out here. The sales potential is huge, starting with bulbs, as described above, but extending to all other household equipment. The NXP executive at LightFair explained that the new lighting products do not require rewiring a house to work. It is simply plug-and-play for bulbs, and changing outlets for power connections. The iPad and tablets are probably as revolutionary as some people believe, but there's a lot more happening in the industry that will drive growth -- if we would only open our eyes to these opportunities.