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文/Lily彭

蘋果電腦與微軟苦鬥20年，終於股價連月飆漲，五月二〸六日市值超越微軟，成為全球市值最高的科技公司。但蘋果iPhone也有打不下來的江山。中國就是蘋果擴張全球版圖進程中其最挫折的一役。挫折的原因很多，現在我們終於找到失敗背後的真正原因。

Among the markets that Apple hasn't quite been able to crack with their iPhone, China has to be the most frustrating. It's a huge opportunity that's being missed. And now we finally know exactly why.

Of course, the black market has always played a role, as have cheap and widely available knock-off products and increasingly tarnished supplier public image. But the real problem, according to a recent survey in the WSJ, Apple's feckless carrier partner, China Unicom.

黑市交易對iPhone銷售影響不小，廉價的冒牌貨隨處可見，同時供應廠家的公眾形象也受到損害。這些原因都在某一程度上導致了iPhone的失敗。但是根據華爾街日報的最新調查報告，根本原因仍在於蘋果的經銷商--中國聯通太沒效率。

Less than 10% of survey respondents—mobile users between 22 and 32—are signed up with China Unicom, and the majority of those that are self-identified as dissatisfied customers. Rival carrier China Mobile, however, was thought to be more reliable and to provide better coverage by 95% of those surveyed.

低於10%的調查對象（年齡在22與32之間的手機用戶）選擇與中國聯通簽約服務，並且其中大部分都對聯通的服務不滿意。而調查報告中，95%的調查對象認為，相較於聯通，競爭對手中國移動收訊範圍更廣，服務品質也更可信。

There are other factors at play, of course; less wireless penetration in China than in the US, that black/gray market opportunity, the mandatory two-year contract. But—as Google learned, in part, with the Nexus One—important to remember the impact that a carrier can have on the fate of a phone, and that unpopular partners lead to unpopular products.

也還有其他重要因素。例如：中國的無線普及率遠低於美國；黑市與水貨市場交易猖獗；iPhone必需綁約（中國聯通）兩年，服務不夠人性化。但是，正如Google在推出Nexus第一代中所得到的教訓一樣，蘋果一定要記得：在地經銷商可以決定產品銷售命運，遇上了不受歡迎的合作夥伴，產品就不受歡迎了。

Key points:

Crack：打進一個新市場
Crack當名詞意思是裂縫。當動詞，Crack本身就有打開、撬開的意思。用這個字形容進入一個市場，可想見多難，很接近的一個詞是break into。
例如：The China Market is so hard to crack. 中國市場很難進入。

進入市場，還有幾種不同的說法：
像Tap into。Tap原來是輕敲的意思，意為進入市場之前先做深入瞭解。
例如：I'd really like to tap into the overseas market. I think there's a lot of business opportunities there. 我想探尋海外市場，我認為有很多商機。

另外有penetrate。這種打入市場是全面滲透的打入。也就是先crack/break into the market，然後再penetrate。
例如：This year the company has been trying to penetrate new markets(= to start selling their products there). 今年這家公司一直試圖打入新市場。

Knock-off products：仿冒品
Knock-off合起來當一個字，可以當形容詞或名詞。當名詞的時候，複數可以直接加S，成為knock-offs。意思是仿冒的或仿冒品。因為knock off當動詞片語就有削價、匆忙完成的意思，衍生成仿冒品也就順理成章。

我們來看knock off當動詞怎麼用

(一)停止工作。
Say, Charlie, do you know it's already six o'clock? Time to knock off. We can finish painting this room tomorrow. 查理，你知道現在已經六點鐘了嗎? 該停工了。我們可以明天來把這間房間粉刷完成。

(二)降低商品價錢。
Sally, let me tell you, I got a great bargain on my new car! I bought it from my friend so he knocked fifteen percent off the dealer list price. 莎莉,我告訴你，我新買汽車，價錢很便宜。我是從朋友那兒買來的，他給我汽車經銷商的定價上打了百分之〸五的折扣。

(三)命令別人不許說話，不許作聲。
All right, men! Knock off all the noise and turn the lights out right now! Any more noise out of you and you'll be scrubbing latrines this weekend! 好吧，各位，馬上關燈，不許再出聲。再要有一點聲音，這個週末你們就去打掃廁所。

At play有影響
Play原來的意思演出。At play是正在演出，引申的意思是有影響力、扮演關鍵性因素。例如：There are a number of factors at play (=having an effect) in the current recession.　近來有幾項關鍵因素造成經濟衰退。

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(本文同步刊於99/6/5工商時報世界公民weekly專欄)