苹果为何豪注印度？ | 经济学人商业

Business | Branching out

商业 | “果”外生枝

Business | Branching out

商业 | “果”外生枝

Why Apple is betting big on India

为何苹果豪注印度

The country is a growing consumer—and producer—of Apple’s gadgets

印度日益成为苹果产品消费和生产大国

The intricate timber roof-tiles were assembled in Delhi, the bright stone walls sourced from Rajasthan. But the man who opened the door of Apple’s gleaming new Mumbai outlet on April 18th had been flown in from California. Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, dispensed high-fives and namastes as he opened that shop and, two days later, an equally ritzy outlet in Delhi, the first Apple stores in India.

环顾四周，这里有在德里当地组装的精巧木质天花板，有产于拉贾斯坦邦的明亮石墙。4月18日，苹果于印度的首家零售店在孟买开业。亲自打开眩目大门迎客的则是从加州远道而来的苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）。现场击掌声此起彼伏，人们敬合十礼，欢欣鼓舞。两天后，在德里，库克又为印度第二家苹果零售店揭幕。

注释：

namaste：印度合十礼（used for greeting someone with respect, especially when you put your hands together in a movement which is called a namaskar）

Soon to become the world’s most populous country, India has a new strategic importance for the world’s most valuable firm. As the crowds at Apple’s stores demonstrated, India is a growing consumer of pricey tech gadgetry. And as the humming factories outside Chennai show, the country is also increasingly a maker of them. Apple is putting down roots in a new Asian market.

印度即将成为世界上人口最多的国家，对苹果这一市值最高的公司而言，印度具有全新的战略要义。苹果专卖店门口人山人海，反映出印度对高价科技产品的消费能力越来越强。金奈郊外的工厂嗡嗡作响，揭示着印度也将成为这些产品的制造大国。苹果正在新的亚洲市场扎根。

Take consumers first. India will shortly have more of them than any country, as its population of 1.4bn edges past that of China this year. Apple products are beyond the means of most Indians. Whereas Apple accounts for more than half the phones sold in America, its market share in India last year was 4.5%, according to Counterpoint, a research firm. But as they get richer, Indians are upgrading their handsets. In the year to March, Apple’s revenues in India were almost $6bn, an increase of nearly 50% on a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, an investment firm, forecasts that its Indian revenues could reach $20bn in 2025. “India is a hugely exciting market for us,” Mr Cook told investors in February. “We are, in essence, taking what we learned in China years ago…and bringing that to bear.”

首先是消费者。今年14亿人口体量的印度将超过中国，消费者人数将成为全球之最。大多印度人都负担不起苹果产品。据研究公司Counterpoint调查，去年美国手机市场中，苹果销量占到一半以上，相较之下，苹果在印度市场的份额只有4.5%。但是随着印度人民越来越富有，他们的手机消费也在升级。据彭博社报道，在截至今年3月的一年内，苹果在印度的营收接近60亿美元，同比增长近50%。投资公司韦德布什（Wedbush Securities）的分析师丹·艾夫斯（Dan Ives）预测，2025年苹果在印度营收可以达到200亿美元。2月，库克告诉投资者：“对我们而言，印度市场让我们热血澎湃。事实上，我们正将多年前在中国学到的经验应用于印度。”

That applies to manufacturing processes, too. In the first two decades of the century Apple shifted most of its manufacturing to China…… Given these risks, the company is scrambling to avoid having all its apples in one basket. India, where Apple began manufacturing with the domestic market in mind, is now seen as a future export base. Government subsidies help. In September Apple announced that it was making the iPhone 14 in India, the first time it had assembled a latest-generation phone in the country. By 2025 a quarter of iPhones will be made outside China, mainly in India, forecasts JPMorgan Chase, a bank. Vietnam, where Apple is reckoned to make almost half its AirPod earphones, has been another winner. Apple is now in talks to make its MacBook laptops in Thailand, Nikkei reported earlier this month.

制造过程也是如此。本世纪的头20年，苹果公司将其大部分制造业务转移到了中国。（此处省略敏感内容）因此，苹果公司争分夺秒，尽量避免将所有“苹果”放在一个篮子里。当初苹果公司刚开始在印度投产时就考虑到了其国内市场，现在印度已经被视为苹果未来的出口基地了。政府补贴也助其一臂之力。9月，苹果宣布在印度生产iPhone 14，这是它首次在印度组装最新机型。摩根大通银行预测，到2025年，四分之一的iPhone将在中国以外生产，主要生产地则是印度。越南是另一个赢家，据估计近一半的AirPod在越南生产。日本新闻社《日经新闻》在本月早些时候报道称，苹果目前正就在泰国生产MacBook进行洽谈。

Apple plays down the idea that it is deserting China; even in a worst-case scenario it would keep manufacturing there for China’s vast domestic market (worth more than $70bn to Apple last year) and for some export, insiders say. Last month Mr Cook visited Beijing, where he hailed the “symbiotic” relationship between Apple and China and was applauded as he toured the company’s flagship store in the capital.

内部人员表示，苹果在淡化将抛弃中国市场的观点；即便在最坏的情况，苹果也会维持在华生产，满足中国国内的巨大市场需求（去年给苹果带来了700亿美元的价值）以及部分出口需求。上个月库克访问北京时，他赞扬了苹果和中国之间的“共生”关系，并在参观当地旗舰店时受到了热烈欢迎。

He has little choice but to maintain friendly relations. Even as Apple shifts some final assembly of its products to other countries, it relies on its long Chinese supply chains for components. Making tech gadgetry is a capital-intensive business. No country will have a manufacturing ecosystem like China’s any time soon, says Anshul Gupta of Gartner, a research firm: “There will always be some interdependence across these markets. You cannot just be completely decoupled.”

除了保持友好关系，库克也别无选择。即使苹果要将其一些最终产品装配线迁移到其他国家，它也需要依赖产品元件在中国的长供应链。高科技产品制造是一种资本密集型行业。没有哪个国家能够在短时间就拥有像中国这样完备的制造业生态系统，市场研究公司顾能（Gartner）的分析师安舒·古普塔（Anshul Gupta）曾言：“这些国家的市场之间总是在某些领域相互依赖，不可能完全与对方脱钩。”

Nonetheless, India and others are eager to take whatever slice they can of Apple’s manufacturing pie. On April 19th Mr Cook was entertained in Delhi by Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. A noted selfie-enthusiast, Mr Modi has been spotted wielding a gold iPhone. Judging by the crowds at Apple’s new stores, he soon won’t be the only one.

尽管如此，印度等国家还是热切希望能够从苹果的制造环节中分一杯羹。4月19日，库克先生在德里受到印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的款待。大家都知道，莫迪先生酷爱自拍，人们看到他用的是金色iPhone。如今从苹果新店集聚的人群来看，很快就有更多伙伴拥有iPhone，加入他的自拍行列了。

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