iPhone销量下跌终结苹果公司连年增长纪录

    How long have you had your Apple iPhone or computer? If you have not replaced that product in the last two or three years, you may be part of the reason for Apple's falling sales numbers.
    你的苹果手机或电脑用了多久了?如果你过去两三年没换过这些产品,你可能就是苹果销量下降的部分原因。

    Apple is the world's most valuable company. Its yearly growth trend started in the early 2000s, with exciting new computers and a portable music player known as the iPod.
    苹果是全球最有价值的公司。该公司在21世纪初,通过激动人心的全新电脑和iPod便携式音乐播放器,奠定了逐年增长的趋势。

    The company continued to grow, with the introduction of the iPhone smartphone. Then, it introduced the iPad tablet.
    该公司通过引入iPhone智能手机继续增长,然后又推出了iPad平板电脑。

    Sales of Apple products grew every year for 51 straight quarters. That all changed on Tuesday, when the company reported a drop in sales. Sales for the first quarter of 2016 dropped 13 percent.
    苹果产品销售额取得连续51个季度增长。这一切在周二发生了改变,该公司宣布销售额下降。该公司2016年第一季度的销售额下降了13%。

    Sales dropped to $50.6 billion from $58 billion during the same quarter in 2015.
    销售额从去年同期的580亿美元下降到了506美元。

    The news caused Apple's stock to drop, too. The company's shares were down by about 8 percent in after-hours trading.
    这一消息还导致了苹果股票下跌。该公司股票在盘后交易中下跌了8%左右。

    Slow growth in China
    中国经济增长缓慢

    Some experts say the struggling Chinese economy may be to blame for Apple's weaker sales. The company's report shows sales were down in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong by a combined 26 percent. In the past, Apple was able to depend on sales growth in those markets.
    一些专家表示,中国经济陷入困境可能是苹果销售疲软的罪魁恶首。苹果公司的报告显示,该公司的销售额在中国以及中国的台湾和香港地区一共下降了26%。而在过去,苹果公司可以依赖于这些市场的销售增长。

    Apple's Chief Executive, Tim Cook, says the smartphone market is not growing because of the slowing economies in some countries.
    苹果首席执行官蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)表示,由于一些国家经济放缓,智能手机市场未能取得增长。

    But other experts say Apple is no longer regularly producing exciting products. People who bought new Apple laptops or smartphones in the last two or three years do not feel like they need to buy the latest products.
    但是其他专家表示,苹果不再定期推出激动人心的产品。过去两三年里买过苹果电脑或智能手机的人们不认为他们需要购买最新的产品。

    Rob Pegoraro is a technology writer for USA Today and Yahoo. He says he still likes to use the Apple products he owns but, there is nothing "revolutionary" right now.
    罗布·佩戈拉罗(Rob Pegoraro)是今日美国和雅虎网站的一位科技写手。他说自己还是喜欢使用他所拥有的苹果产品,但是现在苹果公司没有什么重大革新的产品。

    "You got a lot of people upgrading to the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 plus. The 6s and the 6s Plus, they're better, but as the names would suggest, they're not exactly revolutionary. Normal people don't buy new phones every year. "
    “很多人升级到了iPhone6和iPhone 6 plus。6s和6s Plus更好,但是正如它们的名字所暗示的,它们不是确切的重大革新。普通人不会每年都买手机。”

    Apple still makes a lot of money
    苹果公司仍然很赚钱

    Pegoraro also says that Apple did not really have a bad quarter. The company still makes a lot of money from the products it sells. It is just not growing anymore.
    佩戈拉罗还表示,苹果公司这个季度并不是真的很糟糕。该公司仍然通过所销售的产品大赚,只是不再增长而已。

    "Their gross margin was 39.4 percent compared to 40.8 percent. I struggle to think of how many other industries or companies could pull down those kind of profit margins for over a decade straight."
    他说,“和以前40.8%的毛利率相比,他们现在的毛利率是39.4%。我很难想到有多少其他行业和公司连续十来年能取得这种利润率。”

    Pegoraro says there is not much more room for improvement in the products Apple makes. For example, the company could create an iPhone with a battery that lasts five days. "That would be amazing, but you're running into the laws of physics there," Pegoraro says.
    佩戈拉罗表示,苹果生产的产品没有太大的改进空间。例如,该公司可以制造出一款电池能持续5天的iPhone。佩戈拉罗说,“这会很棒,但是你会遇到物理规律的问题。”

    The Associated Press news agency reports that there are still parts of Apple's business that are growing. For example, there are 500 million iPhones in use. Those phones need cloud storage, apps and music. That part of the company is worth $6 billion per quarter now, and that is an increase of 20 percent over the same period last year.
    美联社报告称,苹果公司还有部分业务仍在增长。例如,目前有5亿台iPhone在用。这些手机需要云储存、应用程序以及音乐。目前该公司这部分业务每季度价值60亿美元,而且与去年同期相比增长了20%。

    There are also concerns that the Apple Watch, which came out a year ago, did not have better sales. But the watch actually sold more than twice as many units in its first year compared to the first iPhone in 2007.
    还有人担心一年前推出的Apple Watch销量不佳。但是和2007年第一代iPhone相比,Apple Watch第一年的实际销量是它的两倍以上。

    Right now people can only guess what is next for Apple. Some think the company will make an electric car. It is building a new headquarters that has been described as a spaceship or flying saucer by some observers.
    人们现在只能猜测苹果的下一步计划是什么。有人认为该公司将会生产电动汽车。该公司正在建造一个被一些观察人士称之为宇宙飞船或飞碟的新总部。

    Pegoraro warns to not underestimate Apple just because of this small drop in sales.
    佩戈拉罗警告说不要仅仅因为销量略降就低估苹果公司。

    "This company, their problem is they made a lot of money, just not more money than they made the last quarter. You know, if that's failure, then I should only hope to be just as much of a disaster!"
    “这家公司的问题他们赚了很多钱,只是没有上季度赚的多而已。你知道,如果这算失败,那么我只能希望我也这样失败。”

    I'm Dan Friedell.
    我是丹·费里德尔。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)