美国消费电子产品有望东山再起

    美国是否即将迎来消费电子产品行业的复兴？

    风险投资家马克•安德森对此一直深信不疑。在阿斯彭市举办的《财富》科技头脑风暴大会（Fortune Brainstorm Tech）上，马克•安德森接受了《财富》杂志（Fortune ）总编赛安迪的采访。

    他的基本观点是，几乎所有智能手机软件的开发地都是美国，产品利润也都是在美国国内实现。

    安德森解释说：“软件正变得越来越重要，我认为，这一事实正在带动硬件的复兴。以iPhone手机为例，虽然它在中国组装，但它所产生的利润却返回到了美国。”

    他还表示，他所带领的风投公司安德森•霍洛维茨基金（Andreessen Horowitz）已经开始投资美国的硬件公司，比如相机制造商Lytro和耳机制造商Jawbone。

    关于美国消费电子行业盈利的同时是否会带动制造业的就业这一问题，安德森表示他无法确定。一方面，更优秀的软件可能导致组件减少，进而使得在美国国内进行组装更符合成本效益。此外，他也认为，即使在美国本土，也会出现更为复杂的组装作业，因为一旦组装过程中发生任何问题，美国国内的设计师将能及时派上用场。

    而另一方面，安德森认为，从这个意义上来看，人们过于强调了“制造行业就业”在经济上的重要性。

    他说：“从经济角度出发，我们应该关注的是毛利润。你会发现，拥有大部分知识产权的那些人获得了大多数利润。制造行业的岗位都不属于高附加值工作。而且我认为，很少有美国人愿意到一家中国电子厂去打工。”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Could America be on the verge of a consumer electronics renaissance?

    That's the "radical" belief of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who was interviewed today by Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech event in Aspen.

    His basic argument is that almost all smartphone software is developed in the U.S., and that the product profits are realized domestically.

    "I think the fact that software is becoming so important is leading to a hardware renaissance," Andreessen explained. "Today you have the iPhone, which is assembled in China, but the profits come back to the U.S."

    He added that his venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has invested in U.S. hardware companies like Lytro (cameras) and Jawbone (speakers).

    When asked if U.S. consumer electronics profits would be accompanied by manufacturing jobs, Andreessen said he was unsure. On the one hand, better software could lead to fewer components, thus making it more cost effective to assemble locally. He also argued that more complex assembly might also occur in the U.S., so that the designers can be close by if something goes wrong.

    On the other hand, Andreessen suggested that "manufacturing job," in this context, is being overemphasized from an economic standpoint.

    "What you have to look at from an economic standpoint is gross margin, and you'll find that people who designed the majority of the IP are getting a majority of the profits," he said. "These are not high-value jobs, and I think there are very few Americans who would want to work in a Chinese manufacturing plant."