數(shù)年來，日本一直雄踞科技界霸主地位，然而隨著近年來蘋果、微軟及其他品牌的崛起，日本本土品牌的形象正在降低，其企業(yè)所獲利潤也在大幅下降。曾經(jīng)在世界人們心中頗具權(quán)威的日本企業(yè)品牌，能否走出陰霾呢？本期《無限播客》欄目，就讓我們來聽聽專業(yè)人士的分析。

文中有不少經(jīng)濟(jì)類詞匯和一些術(shù)語，有一定難度，大家可以好好學(xué)習(xí)一下。

Everybody gets excited about technology， but in Japan， they take it to another level.

Entire districts of Tokyo are devoted to robots， computers， 1)gadgets and huge electronics shops. But over recent years， the former dominance of Japanese brands in their own country has been challenged like never before by the new 2)behemoths of South Korea， China and the US.

The Japanese have been married to technology for decades and their brand loyalty is well-documented. But 3)whereas once these brands were nearly always Japanese， the 4)lucrative market of the Far East has been the target of a number of other firms—and this has had an effect on profits.

所有人提到科技都會熱血沸騰，而在日本，這種熱情則更為瘋狂。

整個東京地區(qū)遍布著機(jī)器人、電腦、電子器件和大型電子商場。但最近幾年，日本本土品牌的統(tǒng)治地位在自己的國土上遭到了來自南韓、中國和美國新興大品牌前所未有的挑戰(zhàn)。

幾十年來，日本人對科技無以倫比的追捧和他們的品牌忠誠度廣為人知。然而，就在日本人幾乎把所有注意力都放在本土品牌的時候，其他公司卻將眼光投向更具市場潛力的遠(yuǎn)東地區(qū)——這也影響了日本品牌的銷售利潤。

Although Canon is growing—5)attributing much of this growth to emerging markets like China and India—others are not 6)faring so well. Panasonic recently predicted an 7)annual 8)net loss of 4209)bn 10)Yen ($5.5bn，￡3.5bn). Hitachi too has recently reported a 48% fall in 11)quarterly profit—though remains 12)in the black—and others have struggled just as much. Sony—one of the big Japanese brands—is expecting losses of more than $1 billion in the current 13)fiscal year.

While some of the problems can be credited to global economic problems， and the earthquake and 14)tsunami last year， some say that this could be a problem of Japan’s own making. “Sony’s Walkman used to be one of the most valuable brands in the world，” says self-confessed otaku—the Japanese word for geek—Steve Nagata， a consultant to firms who want to move to Japan. Nagata also thinks that the mistake is just one of several that Japanese firms have

盡管佳能的壯大基本得益于新興市場——如中國和印度，但是其他公司卻并沒有經(jīng)營得如此順利。松下最近預(yù)計其年度凈虧損將達(dá)4 2 0 0億日元（約合55億美元，35億英鎊）。日立集團(tuán)最近的報告也顯示其季度利潤下降達(dá)48%，雖不至于出現(xiàn)財政赤字，但也一直在竭盡全力。而日本品牌龍頭之一的索尼公司也預(yù)計在這個財政年，將會有超過10億美元的損失。

雖然有些問題可歸結(jié)于全球經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣和去年的地震和海嘯災(zāi)難，但有人也認(rèn)為，這是日本自身的原因。“索尼隨身聽曾經(jīng)是全世界性價比最高的牌子，”自稱御宅族（日語中指不愛出門的電腦高手）一員的永田史蒂夫這么說。他是一名顧問，專為外資企業(yè)進(jìn)入日本市場提供專業(yè)意見。永田還認(rèn)為這是許多日本企業(yè)一直犯

been making for years—born out of 15)complacency with its once dominant position in the market.

的毛病之一——沉浸在曾經(jīng)的霸主地位沾沾自喜。

Globalisation

Japan was one of the first countries to 16)embrace 3G phone technology and flip phones， but has since stood 17)comparatively still. Japanese smartphone usage is at around 6% of the population， compared to US and UK figures of around 30%， according to research from Google a n d t h e 1 8 )M o b i l e Marketing Association. And Taiwanese， Chinese and Korean firms have been slowly taking over， lowering prices and working aggressively at increasing market share. This becomes even more difficult for Japan because the strength of the Yen makes everything more expensive to produce and export.

While government assistance has ensured Japanese firms have a market at home， as the technology sector has increasingly globalised， some see this now as more of a curse than a blessing. “When Japan was such a centre point for technology， they took a lot of measures to protect this incredibly lucrative Japanese market，” says Mr. Nagata， “But protection， in some ways， ended up cutting them off from the global market. They weren’t really paying attention to the fast growth and demands elsewhere and now lots of Japanese electronics makers are trapped， looking out wishing they had pieces of a now larger and more lucrative global market.”全球化

日本是最早使用3G電話科技和翻蓋手機(jī)的國家之一，但從那以后卻止步不前。據(jù)谷歌和移動營銷協(xié)會的研究表明，日本智能手機(jī)的使用率約為6%，而在美國和英國，數(shù)字達(dá)到30%。臺灣、中國大陸和韓國的手機(jī)品牌也慢慢顯示出后勁，降低價格，強(qiáng)有力地逐步擴(kuò)大市場份額。而日元持續(xù)堅挺導(dǎo)致生產(chǎn)和出口成本增加，也是日本企業(yè)更加舉步維艱的原因。

盡管政府的支持保證了日本企業(yè)在本土擁有一定市場份額，但是隨著科技全球化的加速發(fā)展，有些人認(rèn)為這項措施不像祝福，倒像是一個詛咒?！爱?dāng)日本還是科技界核心的時候，它（政府）采取了很多措施來保護(hù)這個潛力巨大的本土市場，”永田先生說，“但是從某個角度講，這種保護(hù)也讓他們與全球市場隔絕。他們并未真正注意到其他地方的快速發(fā)展和需求。而如今，許多日本電子制造商陷入困境，而只能一味奢望在更大更有潛力的全球市場有自己的一席之地?！?Loyalty culture

19)Innovations from Apple and， in the gaming space at least， Microsoft， mean that the US now has a 20)foothold in the Far East. And， just as it is difficult to change Japanese consumers’minds because of their loyalty， once they have stopped buying a particular brand， it is very difficult to get them back.

Sony， Toshiba and Hitachi are fighting back with a 21)merger of their small LCD businesses. In a public-private partnership，（品牌）忠誠文化

蘋果和微軟（至少在游戲領(lǐng)域）的研發(fā)產(chǎn)品意味著美國已經(jīng)在遠(yuǎn)東站穩(wěn)腳跟。而就如日本人由于忠誠之故很難改變他們的消費(fèi)心理一樣，一旦他們停止購買某個品牌的東西，也就再難讓他們回頭。

索尼、東芝和日立將各自規(guī)模不大的LCD業(yè)務(wù)合并在一起。這個the creation of the world’s largest producer of touchscreen displays is hoped to make Japanese companies more competitive. But 22)bespoke hardware and expensive single-purpose gadgets—a market nearly unique to Japan—is no longer the 23)cash cow it once was. And it is easy to see how. As technology moves towards being increasingly mobile and increasingly affordable， the onceunique developments now risk being 24)undercut by a wave of cheap， user-friendly apps. For example， why would someone buy a bespoke device for $100 (￡63) if an app with the same 25)functionality costs $3 (￡1.90)?

以公私合伙關(guān)系的方式建立的全球最大的觸屏產(chǎn)品制造商希望能增加日資企業(yè)的競爭力。但是，預(yù)訂硬件和價格昂貴的單一目標(biāo)器件——這些幾乎為日本市場專門定制的產(chǎn)品——已經(jīng)不像以前那么吃香。原因顯而易見。隨著科技往移動性越來越強(qiáng)，價格越來越可承受的方向發(fā)展，曾經(jīng)獨(dú)特單一的產(chǎn)品面對一眾便宜易用的軟件，也有被刷下的危險。舉個例子說，一個人為何要花上100美元（約63英鎊）買一個硬件終端，而不去買一個只需3美元（約1.9英鎊）的擁有相同功能的軟件？

The 26)inexorable march of globalisation seems to have hit Japan hard， casting doubts over what Japan’s own tech giants can do to stem the current troubles. But， as Mr. Stinger told The Wall Street Journal: “You have bad years， the 27)trick is to 28)weather them， learn from them， act graciously through them， and learn why and when you have to change.”

The fact remains that the Japanese are still passionate about technology. Japanese manufacturers just need to make sure they stay passionate about their brands as well.

這股不可阻擋的全球化進(jìn)程似乎讓日本遭受到了沉重的打擊，也讓人懷疑日本的本土科技巨頭是否有能力帶領(lǐng)日本走出現(xiàn)有低谷。但，正如史丁格先生在接受《華爾街日報》采訪時所說的：“我們都會有艱難的時刻，訣竅就是經(jīng)歷它，從中學(xué)到東西，鎮(zhèn)定自若地渡過，最終懂得你為何需要改變以及何時需要改變?！?/p>

日本人對科技的熱情依然存在。日本企業(yè)只需做到自身品牌能牢牢抓住他們的心便可。