《日本經(jīng)濟(jì)新聞(Nikkei)》近日?qǐng)?bào)導(dǎo)，NEC將退出智能手機(jī)市場(chǎng)；該公司的退出與目前全球智能手機(jī)的明顯成長勢(shì)頭相違背──根據(jù)市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)IHS的最新預(yù)測(cè)數(shù)據(jù)，全球智能手機(jī)出貨量將由2012年的7.2億支，在2017年增加至15億支。 NEC的退出意味著這家日本廠商在瞬息萬變的全球手機(jī)市場(chǎng)之挫敗──目前該市場(chǎng)被Apple、Samsung所把持，又有許多中國廠商不斷崛起。上述報(bào)導(dǎo)指出，NEC自去年底開始與中國業(yè)者聯(lián)想 (Lenovo)研議一項(xiàng)協(xié)議，計(jì)劃“在聯(lián)想的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下重建手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)”；該計(jì)劃著眼于兩家公司在PC市場(chǎng)上的成功合作關(guān)系。 該報(bào)導(dǎo)并指出：“NEC要求聯(lián)想收購其研發(fā)/銷售子公司NEC Casio Mobile Communications 的多數(shù)股權(quán)，”但兩家公司尚未達(dá)成協(xié)議。而NEC顯然仍將堅(jiān)守其非智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)──因?yàn)樵诖送瑫r(shí)，該公司將NEC Casio的大多數(shù)員工調(diào)往其他事業(yè)部門。 目前尚未清楚NEC將如何處理手機(jī)領(lǐng)域的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)(IP)，而這對(duì)其他同業(yè)來說可能是有價(jià)值的；該篇《日經(jīng)》報(bào)導(dǎo)補(bǔ)充，NEC將繼續(xù)考慮銷售部分手機(jī)相關(guān)專利，如果潛在合作伙伴愿意收購大多數(shù)股權(quán)，也可能重新審視業(yè)務(wù)合并的可能性。 無論有沒有NEC的合作，在2010年才進(jìn)軍手機(jī)領(lǐng)域的聯(lián)想已經(jīng)在中國市場(chǎng)取得不錯(cuò)的表現(xiàn)，得以與華為(Huawei)、中興(ZTE)與酷派(Coolpad)等其他手機(jī)品牌分庭抗禮。 根據(jù)市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)Strategy Analytics的最新一季統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，當(dāng)季Samsung在中國市場(chǎng)售出1,250萬支智能手機(jī)，市占率達(dá)18.5%，較上一季增加2.2%；同時(shí)聯(lián)想智能手機(jī)出貨量為790萬，市占率11.7%，略為落后華為12%的市占率，成為中國第二大本土智能手機(jī)品牌。 雖然聯(lián)想目前聚焦中國、印度以及東南亞等地市場(chǎng)，該公司也有意在美國市場(chǎng)建立品牌；有部分產(chǎn)業(yè)觀察家指出，聯(lián)想似乎有意收購BlackBerry。而對(duì)聯(lián)想來說，與在美國市場(chǎng)不太有知名度的NEC聯(lián)手，顯然沒有多大的幫助。 而聯(lián)想不只是想做一家單純的智能手機(jī)供應(yīng)商；今年稍早，EETimes也曾報(bào)導(dǎo)，聯(lián)想打算進(jìn)軍芯片設(shè)計(jì)領(lǐng)域，瞄準(zhǔn)智能手機(jī)與平板裝置應(yīng)用(請(qǐng)點(diǎn)擊這里參考：《聯(lián)想：掌控自己命運(yùn)，從設(shè)計(jì)自家芯片開始》 )；內(nèi)容寫道： “過去十年來，聯(lián)想內(nèi)部一直有個(gè)編制約10人左右的芯片設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)，來自產(chǎn)業(yè)界的消息來源指出，該公司現(xiàn)在正在招募芯片設(shè)計(jì)工程師，打算在今年中將該團(tuán)隊(duì)擴(kuò)充至100人左右的規(guī)模；該匿名消息來源指出，聯(lián)想將在分別在深圳與北京招募40與60名工程師?！? 將以上所有的消息集合，顯見無論是NEC過去在系統(tǒng)級(jí)芯片設(shè)計(jì)方面的長才(現(xiàn)已屬于Renesas)，或是該公司與電信業(yè)者NTT Docomo在日本市場(chǎng)(也僅止于日本市場(chǎng))的合作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，對(duì)聯(lián)想來說都不怎么重要。 隨著已開發(fā)國家智能手機(jī)市場(chǎng)逐漸飽和，手機(jī)供應(yīng)商之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)也日益激烈。NEC在日本智能手機(jī)市場(chǎng)的優(yōu)勢(shì)漸失，也面臨了難以吸引包括聯(lián)想在內(nèi)之任何一家合作伙伴的困境。 IHS資深分析師Wayne Lam在一篇智能手機(jī)市場(chǎng)報(bào)告中指出：“今年由一線手機(jī)供應(yīng)商所推出的旗艦型新款智能手機(jī)，數(shù)量多到令人驚奇；”他進(jìn)一步表示：“可能呈現(xiàn)減緩的iPhone銷售量，以及其他競(jìng)爭(zhēng)智能手機(jī)的迅速問世，顯示了手機(jī)產(chǎn)業(yè)的殘酷特性，特別是現(xiàn)在該市場(chǎng)重心持續(xù)由低階手機(jī)──也就是功能型手機(jī)，轉(zhuǎn)向不斷增加的智能手機(jī)。 ” 所以，NEC除了退出智能手機(jī)市場(chǎng)，還有什么其他更好的選擇嗎？ 本文為《國際電子商情》原創(chuàng)，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：NEC Quits Smartphone Business，by Junko Yoshida

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• NEC將退出智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)，因與聯(lián)想沒談攏
• 聯(lián)想：掌控自己命運(yùn)，從設(shè)計(jì)自家芯片開始
• 聯(lián)想擬通過與NEC合資擴(kuò)張智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)H18esmc

{pagination} NEC Quits Smartphone Business Junko Yoshida MADISON, Wis. -- NEC Corp. is calling it quits in the smartphone business, according to a report by Nikkei, Japan's economic journal. NEC's withdrawal goes against an unmistakable upward trend in the global smartphone market. IHS, a market research company, on Wednesday, July 17, released a new smartphone market report, predicting that worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 1.5 billion units in 2017, up from 712 million in 2012. The Japanese company's withdrawal is a clear defeat for NEC and its place in the global mobile industry where the changing of the guards has been apparent, with Apple and Samsung taking over and a number of Chinese OEMs rising. The Nikkei report claimed that NEC had been working on a deal with China's Lenovo since late last year to "rebuild the cellphone business under Lenovo's leadership." Their idea was to emulate the successful relationship the two companies have enjoyed in their collaboration in personal computers. NEC's Android-based MEDIAS smartphone The story said that "NEC requested that Lenovo take a majority stake in development and production subsidiary NEC Casio Mobile Communications Ltd." But the two parties could not reach an agreement. The Japanese company will apparently remain in the non-smartphone segment. Meanwhile, NEC will reassign the bulk of its NEC Casio employees to other groups, the report said. While it's not clear whether any of NEC's intellectual properties [in the mobile field] might be valuable to others, the Nikkei article added that NEC will continue to consider selling off some cellphone-related patents and may revisit the possibility of a business merger if a potential partner is willing to take a majority interest. With or without NEC, though, Lenovo, which only entered the cellphone market in 2010, has already done well among its Chinese peers in the local market -- including Huawei, ZTE, and Coolpad. In the quarter that ended March 31, Strategy Analytics' data shows that Samsung sold 12.5 million smartphones in China, garnering an 18.5 percent market share, up 2.2 percent from the previous quarter. Lenovo, on the other hand, sold 7.9 million smartphones and captured 11.7 percent market share. Huawei edged Lenovo with a 12 percent market share, making Lenovo as the second largest local smartphone vendor. Lenovo wants to enter the US market While Lenovo's current focus is on China, India, and other Southeast Asian countries, the company harbors an ambition to establish its brand in the US market. Some observers have even suggested Lenovo's potential interest in BlackBerry. Obviously, for Lenovo, the partnership with NEC -- which has little presence in the United States -- couldn't be much help there. Lenovo's ambition won't stop at being a smartphone OEM. EE Times, earlier this year, reported Lenovo's plan to get into the chip design business with a special focus on smartphones and tablets. We reported then: The Chinese company, which has maintained a small IC design team consisting of about 10 people over the last decade, is now committed to expanding this team to about 100 engineers by the middle of this year… Lenovo will be hiring 40 engineers in Shenzhen area and 60 in Beijing. Putting all these data points together, it's clear that neither NEC's previous prowess in SoC expertise (which now belongs to the ailing Renesas) nor the company's experience working with NTT Docomo for the Japanese market (but with no presence in the global market) is deemed important by Lenovo. As smartphones in advanced countries begin to saturate the market, competition among handset vendors is only intensifying. NEC is losing its edge in Japan's domestic smartphone market and faces difficulties in making itself look attractive as a partner to anyone, including Lenovo. Speaking of the global smartphone market, "The volume of new flagship smartphone releases from top original equipment manufacturers (OEM) this year has been astounding," said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for consumer and communications at HIS, in a statement. He added: The possible slowing growth of the iPhone and the rapid pace of competitive smartphones releases speak to the ferocious nature of the handset business, especially now as the market continues to pivot from a market dominated by lower-end handsets known as feature phones to one that is increasingly smartphone-centric. There. So, what other options does NEC have, other than getting out of the smartphone business?