纽约时报中文网 - 中英对照版-中英苹果在中国对部分新款iPhone打折凸显需求担忧

Ever bought a discounted new phone from Apple? For most people, the answer is no. That’s because Apple doesn’t really do discounts.

你买过打折的苹果新款手机吗？对于大多数人来说，答案是否定的。那是因为苹果基本上不打折。

But in China, Apple is slashing the price of some of its latest iPhones by $70 amid worries that Chinese consumers have cooled on the brand. That would save a buyer about 6 to 8 percent, based on prices on Apple’s China website. It has also knocked $112 off the price of some MacBook Air laptops. The sale will start on Thursday and run through Sunday.

但在中国，由于担心消费者对该品牌的兴趣降低，苹果将对部分新款iPhone提供最高500元的折扣。据苹果中国网站上宣布的优惠，这将让买家省约6%至8%的钱。苹果还将对一些MacBook Air笔记本电脑提供最高800元的折扣。这次促销活动于周四开始，持续到周日。

Cutting prices on high-end electronics to buyers in China is an unexpected move for Apple, one that highlights the challenges the American company faces in China, where patriotic shoppers are choosing domestic brands amid rising US-China tensions.

苹果向中国消费者提供高端电子产品价格折扣是个出乎意料的做法，凸显了这家美国公司在中国面临的挑战，由于美中关系日益紧张，爱国者们正在选择国产品牌。

Apple and its Chinese rival, Huawei, are on the front lines of a battle over technology between Beijing and Washington that has seen both countries restrict access to foreign technology. Long suspicious of Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese government and wary that its technology could be used for spying, American officials have stopped federal agencies from buying equipment from Huawei and tried to discourage other countries as well.

苹果及其中国竞争对手华为正处在中美技术争夺战的前线，两国都已限制了外国技术的使用。美国官员长期以来一直怀疑华为与中国政府有密切关系，担心华为的技术可能被用于间谍活动，因此禁止联邦机构购买华为设备，并试图劝阻其他国家也这样做。

China, for its part, has issued directives to some of its government employees not to use iPhones at work and encouraged domestic brands.

中国也要求部分政府雇员不得在工作中使用iPhone，鼓励使用国产品牌。

The tit-for-tat is not good for business. Apple has a lot to lose from the surge in tensions between the United States and China, a huge market that accounts for one-fifth of its overall revenue.

这种以牙还牙对生意不利。急剧上升的美中紧张关系给苹果带来不少损失，因为中国是占其总收入20%的巨大市场。

Overall sales of smartphones in China fell about 3 percent in 2023 because of the country’s slowing economy. It is also the only major economy to sink into deflation as Chinese cut spending, and household savings rose to a high point.

由于国内经济放缓，2023年中国的智能手机总体销量下降了约3%。国内支出降低、家庭储蓄增至高点已让中国成为陷入通货紧缩的唯一主要经济体。

Huawei has taken aim at Apple’s market share in China, most recently unveiling a smartphone with an enhanced camera, something that Apple has long advertised as a selling point.

华为瞄准了苹果在中国的市场份额，它最近推出了一款配有增强型摄像头的智能手机，这本是苹果长期以来的一个卖点。

Apple said in November that its overall sales in China had fallen by 2.5 percent. The company has reported a drop in sales for three quarters over the last year.

苹果去年11月表示，其在华整体销量下降了2.5%。它在去年有三个季度录得销售下降。

Discounts are not unusual ahead of the Lunar New Year, which is next month and one of the biggest shopping periods of the year in China. Apple’s current promotion includes an image of a giant dragon made of iPhones, Apple watches and AirPods, in a nod to the upcoming year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

下个月的春节是一年中最大的购物季之一，在春节到来临之前进行商品打折并不罕见。为了迎接即将到来的龙年，苹果的这次促销活动打出了用iPhone、Apple Watch和AirPods等产品拼出的巨龙形象。

The discounts prompted debate on Chinese social media on Monday.

苹果打折的做法周一在中国的社交媒体上引发了争论。

“Apple will only cut the price of its phones when domestic phones become more popular,” wrote a well known blogger known as Victorious Zhang Beihai. Another commentator wrote: “It is still too expensive. I support domestic phones.”

“只有国产手机进步了，越来越能打了，苹果手机才会降价，”知名博主“胜利主义章北海”写道。另一名评论者写道：“还是太贵。我支持国产手机。”

Apple’s Lunar New Year promotion is “a move not commonly seen in the past,” said Toby Zhu, a senior analyst at Canalys, a market research firm. Canalys’s research indicates that Apple’s sales in China fell last summer compared to 2022, but that the company still holds about 66 percent of the market for high-end smartphones in China.

苹果的农历新年促销活动“是以前并不常见的做法”，市场研究公司Canalys的高级分析师托比·朱（音）说。Canalys的研究表明，虽然苹果去年夏季在中国的销量较2022年有所下降，但它仍在中国高端智能手机市场占有约66%的份额。

Mr. Zhu added that the models of iPhones under promotion appear to have already sold out.

朱先生还说，打折的iPhone型号似乎已经售馨。

Still, he added, “it does indicate the challenges Apple is facing in the mainland China market.”

尽管如此，他补充说，“这确实表明苹果在中国大陆市场面临挑战。”