????中國智能手機(jī)廠商之間的逐底競爭已經(jīng)開始,。

????聯(lián)想公司的一位部門主管告訴《華爾街日報(bào)》：“你可以用別人的模式來打敗他?！彼傅氖亲叩统杀韭肪€的小米品牌。小米一直以模仿蘋果手機(jī)為傲,，其售價(jià)僅為后者的一半?，F(xiàn)在你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，幾乎所有中國手機(jī)廠商都加入了這場競爭,。

????低端市場之爭已經(jīng)持續(xù)了一段時(shí)間,。早在去年，華為和中興等中國著名手機(jī)廠商便公然模仿小米,，特別推出了“僅接受網(wǎng)絡(luò)預(yù)訂”的手機(jī)型號,。小米公司憑借精明的營銷和低廉的價(jià)格，獲得了450億美元的估值,。如今,，中國智能手機(jī)銷售增長已達(dá)到頂峰，新一輪競爭周期已經(jīng)開始,，在此輪競爭中,，手機(jī)廠商已經(jīng)微薄的利潤將遭到擠壓，要想生存下來,，只能依靠新的創(chuàng)新或市場份額,。在這種形勢下，幾乎所有廠商都希望在尚有余力的情況下盡可能爭奪低端市場的份額,。

????就連互聯(lián)網(wǎng)電視公司樂視網(wǎng)和殺毒軟件公司奇虎360這些與手機(jī)不相干的公司,，也在今年推出了廉價(jià)手機(jī)。

????對廉價(jià)市場的競爭明顯是在押注中國這個(gè)世界最大的市場,。雖然中國市場智能手機(jī)的平均售價(jià)在去年已經(jīng)有大幅上漲（達(dá)到約250美元）,，但依舊遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于全球平均水平。有條件的中國人愿意購買iPhone等高端手機(jī),，但大多數(shù)人仍不具備這樣的經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)力,，這便導(dǎo)致廉價(jià)手機(jī)市場的競爭異常激烈。與此同時(shí),，華為,、中興和其他品牌正嘗試在美國等海外市場銷售高價(jià)手機(jī),。

????這種競爭應(yīng)該不會影響到蘋果公司在中國的高售價(jià)（iPhone 6的價(jià)格超過1000美元），因?yàn)樵诖蟪鞘泻透挥须A層眼中,，蘋果是一個(gè)奢侈品牌,，高價(jià)格是理所當(dāng)然的,。但三星電子卻肯定會成為中國手機(jī)品牌的目標(biāo),，因?yàn)橹袊謾C(jī)品牌同樣采用安卓操作系統(tǒng)，對買不起蘋果手機(jī)的消費(fèi)者很有吸引力,。去年,，三星在這個(gè)世界最大市場的份額減少了一半，現(xiàn)在僅占10%,。

????廉價(jià)手機(jī)品牌的群雄并起,，將使中國智能手機(jī)業(yè)回到從前的狀態(tài)。在安卓和智能手機(jī)到來之前,，中國有數(shù)百個(gè)小品牌以最低的價(jià)格在中國銷售直板“功能手機(jī)”,。但當(dāng)智能手機(jī)到來之后，這些廠商紛紛倒閉,，因?yàn)樗麄冎皇窍鲀r(jià)競爭,，卻不思創(chuàng)新。

????對于中國智能手機(jī)品牌而言,，至少在政治方面,，現(xiàn)在是一個(gè)絕好的時(shí)機(jī)。最近,，在蘋果推出iPhone 6S不久前,，中央電視臺在報(bào)道中批評了iPhone 6和三星Galaxy S5的攝像頭性能，但卻并未提到小米和華為,。與此同時(shí),，一些中國社交媒體用戶稱蘋果是美帝國主義的工具。

????現(xiàn)在是中國品牌的好時(shí)代,，但前提是它們有能力參與低端市場的競爭,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????The race to the bottom has begun in Chinese smartphones.

????When a Lenovo unit head tells the Wall Street Journal, “You can use someone else’s model to defeat them,” and he’s referring to the low-cost Xiaomi brand that prides itself on being an Apple imitator for half the price, you know almost everyone is jumping in.

????This has been building for a while. It began last year when the country’s legacy brands like Huawei and ZTE were rolling out special “available online only” phone-brands in a blatant imitation of Xiaomi, which earned a $45 billion valuation thanks to saavy distribution and cheap phones. Now as China’s smartphone sales growth peaks and the next wave of the competitive cycle begins, one in which already thin margins are squeezed and companies will survive because of new innovations or market share, almost everyone is rushing to capture low-cost market share while they still can.

????Among the unlikely brands unveiling new cheap brands this year are Internet-TV firm LeTV and an anti-virus software company called Qihoo 360.

????The move downmarket is an explicit bet on the Chinese market, the world’s biggest. Even though the average selling price of a smartphone has increased dramatically in the past year (to around $250), it’s still far below the global average. The Chinese will pay up for phones like the iPhone if they can, but most can’t, creating an ultra-competitive market of cheap alternatives. Separately, Huawei, ZTE and others are trying to sell premium-priced phones in overseas markets like the U.S..

????This should have little effect on Apple’s high prices in China (where an iPhone 6 costs more than $1,000) because the company is seen as a luxury brand in the largest cities and among the country’s richest, for which a high price is justified. Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF , however, is squarely in the crosshairs of Chinese brands that feature the same Android operating system and appeal to the masses that can’t afford Apple. It lost half its market share in the last year and now commands barely 10% of the world’s biggest market.

????The new introduction of cheap brands is really a return to China’s smartphone past, before the arrival of Android and smartphones, when hundreds of small brands sold candy-bar “feature phones” at the lowest possible price. Eventually, they all went bankrupt when smartphones arrived because they only competed on price, not innovation.

????It’s a good time to be a Chinese smartphone brand, politically at least. The state-run CCTV recently ran reports criticizing the camera performance of the iPhone 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S5, before Apple’s unveils the iPhone 6S. Left unmentioned in the report: Xiaomi and Huawei. At the same time, some Chinese social media users are calling Apple a tool of American imperialism.

????A good time for Chinese brands, but only if they can compete at the bottom.