杨元庆、穆斯克获得爱迪生创新成就奖

    中国能否从制造业大国跃升为世界级创新者？

    太平洋两岸已经就这个问题激辩多年。中国领导人一直希望中国能够跟随日本和韩国的脚步，通过增强创新能力来推动经济持续增长。

    越来越多的迹象表明，至少就某些公司而言，答案或许是：“能”。

    上周三，联想集团(Lenovo)首席执行官杨元庆在旧金山领取了以表彰创新著称的爱迪生成就奖(Edison Achievement Award)。今年的另一位获奖者是特斯拉电动汽车公司(Tesla)和Space X公司创始人埃隆•穆斯克。这个奖项的昔日得主包括苹果公司(Apple)的史蒂夫•乔布斯、高通公司(Qualcomm)的保罗•雅各布、福特汽车公司(Ford)的艾伦•穆拉利和艾迪欧公司(Ideo)的大卫•凯利。

    爱迪生成就奖由致力于推动创新的非营利机构爱迪生国际(Edison Universe)颁发。要是没有具体成就的支持，这个奖项也就没有多大的意义。但联想已经成为一家全球性计算巨头——联想的个人电脑销量位居全球之首，同时也是智能手机和平板电脑领域的有力竞争者。从某种程度上说，如此傲人的成就正是这家公司专注于创新的结果。

    受到表彰的是联想，而不是其他中国公司，这应该不是什么出人意料的事情。《财富》杂志(Fortune)在去年发表的一篇关于联想公司的特稿中写道，通过创新和敏锐的市场嗅觉，联想随时准备成为“中国第一家全球性消费品牌。”鉴于联想准备收购谷歌(Google)旗下的摩托罗拉移动(Motorola)和IBM的低端服务器业务，这个预言似乎即将成为现实。今年早些时候宣布的这两笔交易将显著扩大联想在全球的足迹。

    “这是一份沉甸甸的荣誉，”杨元庆在接受《财富》采访时说。一如联想等公司专利申请数量不断增长这类指标所反映的那样，中国公司整体上已经取得了长足的进步，这个奖项意味着这种进步正在得到认可。杨元庆说，“我们正在从事大量的创新工作。”

    但创新和市场成功必须齐头并进，杨元庆说。“创新不只是为了得奖，”他说：“它必须影响每一个人。”

    就这层意义而言，为联想赢得爱迪生奖的两款产品堪称博采众长的混合体。

    其中，Horizon系列是一款集多项功能于一身的台式机。平放时，27英寸的屏幕就变为一个全新设备——一款拥有自定义设计界面，允许多个用户玩游戏，分享照片和协作的“桌面电脑”。杨元庆把它称为“人际互动电脑”，希望它成为一个能够把人们聚集在一起，而不是孤立开来的屏幕。Horizon系列于去年推出，售价约1,700美元。它依然是一款小众产品，但一位联想高管表示，这款电脑的销量已经超出公司的预期。

    “一听说有这种产品，许多客户都会说，‘哇，我真想拥有一台，’”杨元庆说。“但不幸的是，他们还没有看到真机。”他说，联想公司一直未能给予Horizon系列足够的推广和分销资金，但这种状况今年有望改变。

    联想的另一款获奖产品是于去年10月份推出的Yoga平板。与传统平板不同，Yoga的一侧有一个凸起的圆柱体，置放于其中的电池大大延长了它的续航能力。凸起部分也使得这款设备更易于单手持握，还可以帮助它以不同的倾斜度支撑起来。

    联想并没有披露各产品线的销量明细，但杨元庆表示，联想公司已经售出了近200万台Yoga平板。根据国际数据公司(IDC)发布的数据，这款产品已经助推联想成为全球第五大平板电脑制造商，仅次于苹果、三星(Samsung)、亚马逊(Amazon)和华硕(Asus)。杨元庆透露说，Yoga平板在欧洲和新兴市场的表现尤为出色。但由于上市时间过晚，它没有赶在节日季之前抢占美国大块市场。软件和屏幕分辨率进一步改进的新版Yoga平板将于近期上市。

    凭借着Yoga平板系列（它的设计理念其实是基于更早前推出的一款大获成功，同样名为Yoga的可变形笔记本电脑）的傲人业绩，联想现已成为平板电脑和手机销量增速最快的公司之一。平板电脑的销量在去年第四季度飙涨了325%，尽管这个市场的基数相对较小。而在手机市场，根据国际数据公司(IDC)发布的数据，联想公司已经成为仅次于三星、苹果和华为(Huawei)的全球第四大手机制造商，而且它的增长势头也最为迅猛。杨元庆的野心是，就像联想在个人电脑领域超越戴尔(Dell )和惠普(HP)一样，在移动设备领域，这家公司最终要超越三星和苹果。

    收购谷歌旗下的摩托罗拉移动有助于联想进一步接近这个目标。杨元庆对投资者许诺称，收购完成4到6个季度后，联想将帮助年亏损额约10亿美元的摩托罗拉扭亏为盈。

    杨元庆表示，他并不打算削减摩托罗拉移动的员工数量，后者目前拥有约3,500名员工。他说，联想将通过在零部件采购环节实现规模经济效应，积极扩展欧洲、美国和拉美市场，重新把摩托罗拉品牌引入中国等方式，显著降低摩托罗拉移动的支出占销售收入比例。

    杨元庆不愿评论联想就这两宗大型并购案与各国监管机构正在进行的磋商，但他希望这些会谈能够像最初的预期那样，在今年年底前完成。（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    Can China make the leap from manufacturing powerhouse to world-class innovator?

    The question has been hotly debated on both sides of the Pacific for years, as China's leaders have banked on the country's ability to prolong its growth by following in the footsteps of Japan and Korea.

    There are growing signs that, at least in some cases, the answer may be "yes."

    On Wednesday, Yuanqing Yang, the chief executive of Lenovo, was in San Francisco to receive the prestigious Edison Achievement Award for innovation. His fellow honoree this year was Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space X, and past award recipients include Apple's Steve Jobs, Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs, Ford's Alan Mulally and Ideo's David Kelley.

    The award, which is given out by the not-for-profit Edison Universe, an organization that promotes innovation, wouldn't mean much if it weren't backed by tangible results. But Lenovo has emerged as a global computing powerhouse -- the No. 1 seller of PCs and a serious contender in smartphones and tablets -- in part through a focus on innovation.

    That it was Lenovo, and not another Chinese company, being recognized should be no surprise. In a profile of the company last year, Fortune wrote that through innovation and market savvy Lenovo was poised to become "China's first global consumer brand." It's a prediction that seems ever closer to being borne out as Lenovo gets ready to acquire Google's Motorola unit and IBM's low-end server unit, two deals announced earlier this year that will greatly expand Lenovo's global footprint.

    "It's a great honor," Yang said in an interview with Fortune. The award represents recognition for the progress that Chinese companies as a whole have made, as reflected in indicators like the growing number of patents filed by companies like Lenovo, Yang said. "We are doing a lot of innovation work."

    But innovation and market success must go hand in hand, Yang said. "Innovation isn't just for getting awards," he says. "It must impact everybody."

    On that front, the two main products for Lenovo that earned it the Edison award have been a mixed bag.

    One of them, the Horizon, is a powerful all-in-one desktop PC with a 27-inch screen that when laid flat on a surface becomes an entirely new device -- a "table PC" with a custom designed interface that allows multiple users to play games, share photos, and collaborate. Yang calls it an "interpersonal PC" and hopes it will be a screen than brings people together rather than isolate them. The Horizon, introduced last year for about $1,700, has remained a niche product, though a Lenovo executive says it has surpassed the company's sales projections.

    "Many customers, when they see this kind of product, they just say, 'Wow, I really want to get that,'" Yang said. "But unfortunately, they haven't seen it." He says the company hasn't been able to spend enough to market and distribute the Horizon, but said that will likely change this year.

    Lenovo was also recognized for the Yoga Tablet, which it introduced in October. Unlike other tablets, which are flat, the Yoga has a cylindrical bulge on its side, which holds batteries that give it extended power. The bulge also makes it easier to hold in one hand, and to prop up in various positions.

    The company doesn't break out sales by product line, but Yang said Lenovo has sold close to 2 million Yoga tablets. That's helped to propel the company into fifth place in the global market for tablets, behind Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Asus, according to IDC. Yang said the tablet has done particularly well in Europe and emerging markets, but its introduction came too late to capture a large portion of market in the United States ahead of the holiday season. New versions of the Yoga, with improved software and screen resolution, will be released soon.

    With the Yoga tablet, which built on the success of an earlier convertible laptop also called Yoga, Lenovo is now one of the fastest-growing sellers of both tablets and phones. Tablet sales grew 325% in the fourth quarter, albeit from a small base. In phones, the company has emerged as the fourth-largest, and fastest-growing global maker, behind Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, according to IDC. Yang's ambition is to eventually surpass Samsung and Apple in mobile devices, just like Lenovo surpassed Dell and HP in PCs.

    The acquisition of Google's Motorola unit should help further that goal. Yang has promised investors that four to six quarters after the acquisition closes, Lenovo will turn Motorola, which is losing about $1 billion a year, into a profitable business.

    Yang said he does not plan to reduce headcount at Motorola, which has about 3,500 employees. He said he would reduce the ratio between sales and expenses significantly, as the company applies economies of scale to the purchase of components, and as it expands aggressively in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, and as it reintroduces the Motorola brand in China.

    Yang declined to comment on discussions with regulators around the world over its two large acquisitions, but said he hoped they would close, as initially forecast, before the end of the year.