5大咸鱼翻身的高科技公司

    迈克尔•戴尔正在忙着试图扭转戴尔公司（Dell）的颓势。他亲手创立了这家公司，现在正打算通过一笔244亿美元的交易把公司私有化。虽然公司目前仍在赢利，但由 于客户大多流向那些能制造便宜机型的竞争对手，戴尔的业务因此日趋下滑。戴尔把复兴计划的希望寄托在商业服务和云计算上，但这方面的努力暂时未见成效。

    如果戴尔的复兴计划最终获得成功，它将成为屈指可数的几家成功扭亏为赢的科技公司中的一员。但这是一项艰巨的任务。科技业的发展速度太快了，原地踏步就意味 着落后。如果有哪家企业忘记了创新的精髓，那么不管企业高管付出多少努力来重组企业结构，构思新的营销口号，还是“精简”劳动力，都很难再占鳌头。

    苹果公司（Apple）的复兴堪称科技业的经典，它可能也是商界历史上最伟大的扭亏为赢的例子。上世纪90年代末，苹果曾濒临破产。一度被逐出苹果董事会的史蒂夫• 乔布斯重新掌权，把公司变成了一台赚钱机器。IBM也是一个成功的例子，它把重点放在向企业客户提供高价格、高利润的产品和服务上，从而再次实现复兴。戴尔基本上就是在试 图复制IBM的路子。

    当然，许多科技公司的复兴之路都以失败告终，很多公司更是屡战屡败——比如一度热门的雅虎（Yahoo）、AMD和社交网络MySpace。通常这些公司失败的原因都离不 开管理失误、缺乏资金和不愿意适应新环境等因素。一般来说，这些科技公司的高管们从来不会放弃希望，但投资人可没有那么多耐心。以下谨为大家列举几个成功扭转颓势的例 子。

    第一名：苹果

    看着苹果今日的辉煌，我们很难想象当年它也有濒临破产的窘境。1979年，乔布斯第二次执掌苹果时，他接手的的确是一个千疮百孔的烂摊子。当时，苹果的电脑产品 在消费者中已经失去了往日的号召力。安装微软（Microsoft）Windows系统的电脑越来越呈现独霸市场的趋势。为了削减成本，集中实力，乔布斯毙掉了一些苟延残喘的产品，比 如个人电子助手Newton等。更重要的是，他一直在促进和推动公司进行创新，直到公司成功地研发了iPod、iTunes、iPhone、MacBook和iPad，这些产品也全都获得了消费者的宠爱 。

    （详情请参阅《财富》杂志（Fortune）《蒂姆•库克怎 样改变苹果》一文。）

    第二名：IBM

    1993年，PRJ Nabisco公司的前高管郭士纳入主IBM的时候，IBM正处于一蹶不振的局面。像许多处于相同处境的CEO一样，郭士纳也采取了精简人员、削减产品、变卖资 产等一系列做法。更重要的是，他推动了公司向科技服务领域发展。今天，科技服务已经成了IBM公司最大的业务。这并不是一件容易的事，而且它需要调整公司前辈们制定的发展 计划，把公司分割成一个个更加独立自主的单元。郭士纳指出，这样可以使IBM避免成为一站式的企业科技商店，就像今天这样。郭士纳离职后，接替他的历任高管也继续做出了各 种明智的决策，首当其冲的就是2005年将个人电脑业务剥离出售。这个决定使得IBM避免了戴尔今日的窘境，不必在一个日益不景气的实体商品行业中继续竞争。

    （详情请参阅《财富》杂志《IBM新任首席执行官展望未来 》一文。）

    第三名：惠普

    有时，科技企业的复兴只是芸花一现，惠普公司（HP）就是一个例子。有那么几年，这家花边新闻不断、业务不良的企业运转得还相当不错。马克•赫德这位以削减成 本出名的CEO在2005年入主惠普后，一度提高了公司的收益和利润。惠普的股票市值增长了一倍以上。赫德在惠普任职五年后，因为涉嫌性骚扰而被董事会扫地出门。从此以后，惠 普的业务一路下滑，尽管两位继任CEO各自开出了自己的药方，但是也不见好转，而且在此期间惠普也受到了不少批评和指责，很多批评都指向了赫德任内的一些政策，比如过度削 减成本，在长期内给公司造成了不良影响。

    （详情请参阅《财富》 杂志《惠普迷失记》一文。 ）

    第四名：Priceline

    Priceline是一家在线旅游网站，顾客可以在这家网站上通过竞价的方式购买机票。上世纪90年代末的互联网泡沫时代，这家网站的效益如日中天，Priceline的高管们 也有些飘飘然了，甚至开始在网站上试着卖杂货和汽油。但是随着互联网泡沫的破灭和“9/11事件”，很多用户放弃了出门度假，Priceline的好日子也到头了。为了自救， Priceline开始免收订票费，把重点放在酒店预订上，并且开始在海外进行拓展。这个计划取得了成功。当年它的股票曾一度面临被纳斯达克摘牌的风险，但如今其股价已经接近每 股700美元。

    （详情请参阅《财富》杂志《让Priceline腾飞的人》 。）

    第五名：eBay

    几年前，eBay面临的问题并不是能否继续生存，而是选择哪种模式扩大发展。过去在eBay上，从古驰（Gucci）手包到汽车，几乎什么都能买到。但是由于面临来自亚 马逊公司（Amazon）的激烈竞争，eBay的增长也陷入了停滞。eBay首席执行官约翰•唐纳荷努力想把eBay改造成一个让零售商销售过季商品的地方。同时他也整改了“大杂烩”式的 网页设计，并且在移动购物上进行了投资。从某种程度上来讲，他的计划取得了成功。公司恢复了增长。但eBay复兴的最大功臣，无论过去还是现在，都是它的移动支付服务贝宝 （PayPal）。eBay市场陷入疲软的时候，在线支付业务——尤其是eBay以外的在线支付业务却日益繁荣。在公司战略转型时期，有这么一个无需操心的业务，的确是帮了大忙。

    （详情请参阅本期《财富》杂志封面故事《eBay王者归来 ！》）

    译者：朴成奎

    Michael Dell has his hands full trying to turnaround Dell, the company he founded and now plans to take private in a $24.4 billion buyout. Although still profitable, the business is slumping as customers shift to rival computer makers that offer cheaper prices. Dell's comeback plan—to push into business services and cloud computing—is still a work in progress.

    If the turnaround effort is ultimately successful, Dell (DELL) will join a small club of technology companies that have been able to reverse their fortunes. It's a difficult feat. The technology industry moves at such a fast pace that staying still means being left behind. Companies that forget how to innovate usually have trouble relearning no matter how much executives tweak organizational charts, create new marketing slogans or "streamline" their workforce.

    Apple (AAPL), on the brink of bankruptcy in the late-1990s, is the industry's biggest comeback story. (It is likely the biggest reversal of fortune in business history.) Steve Jobs, who had been purged in a boardroom dispute, returned and transformed the business into a money-making machine. I.B.M. (IBM) is another that reinvented itself, by refocusing on high-priced, high-margin products and services for corporate customers. Dell is essentially trying to follow I.B.M.'s example.

    Of course, many technology companies try and fail in their comeback attempts—repeatedly, in some cases—like Yahoo (YHOO), AMD (AMD) and MySpace, the once-popular social network. Mismanagement, a lack of money and an unwillingness to adapt are typically to blame. Invariably, executives never lose hope. Investors have far less patience, however. Here's a recap of how some struggling technology companies, despite the odds, managed to make a comeback:

    No. 1 Apple

    Picturing Apple near bankruptcy is difficult given its strength today. But the company was indeed in trouble when Steve Jobs took over for a second time in 1997. Apple's computers no longer elicited the passion among consumers that they once did. Personal computers that relied on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows increasingly dominated the market. To cut costs and increase focus, Jobs eliminated a number of floundering products like the Newton personal digital assistant. More importantly, however, he pushed and prodded until Apple started innovating again with the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, MacBook and iPad. Consumers, of course, loved them all.

    (For more, see Fortune's How Tim Cook is changing Apple.)

    No. 2 IBM

    When Lou Gerstner, a former chief executive for RJR Nabisco, took the reins at I.B.M. in 1993, the company was slumping. Like many in his position, he cut jobs, killed products and sold assets. More importantly, he pushed the company into technology services. Today, it is the company's biggest business. It wasn't easy, however. It required reversing his predecessor's plan to break the company into more autonomous individual units. Doing so, he figured, would make it impossible for I.B.M. to be a one-stop shop for business technology, as it is today. Since Gerstner left, I.B.M. executives have continued making wise decisions. Selling off the personal computer unit in 2005 is at the top of the list. Doing so allowed I.B.M. to avoid the problems Dell faces today with having to compete in a declining, commodity-driven business.

    (For more, see Fortune's IBM's Ginni Rometty looks ahead.)

    No. 3 Hewlett-Packard

    Sometimes comebacks are short-lived, as Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) proves it. For a few years, the company —a bastion of soap operatic drama and underachievement–operated smoothly. Mark Hurd, a cost cutting chief executive hired in 2005, lifted revenue and profits. H.P.'s shares more than doubled in value. Then five years into his tenure, the board pushed Hurd out following accusations of sexual harassment. Since then, the company has spiraled under two chief executives, two turnaround plans and a lot of finger pointing–in some cases back at Hurd, for, among other things, excessive cost-cutting that allegedly hurt the company in the long-term.

    (For more, see Fortune's How Hewlett-Packard lost its way.)

    No. 4 Priceline

    Priceline (PCLN), the online travel site known for letting customers bid on tickets, rose in tandem with the Internet bubble of the late 1990s. Executives got so cocky that they experimented with selling groceries and gasoline. But the good times ended when the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks caused consumers to forego vacations. To save itself, Priceline eliminated booking fees, emphasized hotel reservations and expanded internationally. The plan worked. Its shares, once so low that they risked delisting from NASDAQ, now trade for nearly $700.

    (For more, see Fortune's How Jeffery Boyd took Priceline from dot-bomb to highflier.)

    No. 5 eBay

    The question a few years ago wasn't whether eBay (EBAY) would survive. Rather, the issue was its trajectory. Growth in eBay's marketplace, where users sell everything from Gucci handbags to cars, had stalled amid intense competition from Amazon.com. John Donahoe, eBay's chief executive, responded by trying to remake the site into more of an outlet mall for retailers to unload out-of-season merchandise. He also cleaned up the site's annoyingly cluttered design and invested in mobile shopping. To a certain extent, the plan worked. Growth returned. But the real star was and still is PayPal, the online payment service. While the marketplace stumbled, online payments – particularly off of eBay – thrived. In a turnaround, it helps considerably to have one business that doesn't need fixing.

    (For more, see Fortune's current cover story eBay is back!.)