苹果全线紧逼微软

在与微软无休止的鏖战中，苹果又将阵地向前扩大了一步。

这家总部位于加州库比蒂诺的科技巨头日前推出了一款尺寸稍小的iPad Pro平板电脑，这款产品主要瞄准企业客户和白领职员，它将与微软Surface Pro和Surface Book等高端平板产品形成针锋相对的竞争。该产品搭载了一块9.7寸显示屏，与12.9寸屏的原始版iPad Pro形成了高低搭配、同台销售的局面。

iPad Pro是苹果公司去年秋天发布的一款产品。苹果乐观地相信，企业客户想要一款更小的iPad Pro。9.7寸版的iPad Pro不仅具有更高的便携性，而且依然支持苹果的手写笔和外接键盘。

在2016年的第一场苹果发布会上，苹果公司高调推出这款产品，凸显了这家消费科技巨头为进军企业科技领域而付出的不懈努力。

去年，苹果与IBM和思科等多家知名科技企业开展了合作，交叉销售对方的产品。苹果希望通过这些高调的合作与企业界建立关系。如果没有这些传统企业科技供应商的帮助，进军企业科技领域这一目标就难以实现。

在去年9月的秋季发布会上，苹果首次发布iPad Pro平板产品。也就是在那次活动上，苹果出人意料地邀请了微软的高管列席。这两家明争暗斗几十年的宿敌暂时放下分歧（至少是在台面上），展示了双方产品的兼容性。

苹果需要借助微软在企业界中的声誉来展示它的新平板也能运行微软Office套件。而萨提亚•纳德拉领导下的微软也在尝试着显示他采取了与前任CEO史蒂夫•鲍默时期不同的战略，更乐意与竞争对手合作。

从目前看来，双方的合作似乎对苹果更有利一些。美国国际数据公司2月份发布的数据显示，2015年第4季度，苹果iPad Pro的销量超过微软Surface。

从今年的苹果春季发布会上看，苹果似乎已经从微软那里拿到了自己想要的东西，已经针对这家总部位于华盛顿州雷德蒙德的公司展开全场紧逼。

在演示新iPad的过程中，苹果营销总监菲尔•席勒多次拿微软开涮。他希望数百万Windows用户能够“跳槽”到由iOS和Mac OS组成的苹果生态系统里来。

席勒指出，iPad Pro的用户基本上都是“从Windows PC那里来的”。他也表露出了对Windows操作系统及PC的不屑，暗示它们都是互联网和苹果应用商店诞生以前的老古董。

席勒还指出，目前有超过6亿台电脑“都已经使用了5年以上”。

“这真悲哀。”席勒说道。

在席勒煽动PC用户转投苹果怀抱之后，就连苹果CEO蒂姆•库克也插话道：

“我们认为，不管你是否已经拥有了一台iPad，也不管你家的那台PC台式机是否到了该换掉的时候，总之，iPad Pro都是一个惊艳的选择，它可以让你多做很多事情。”

在推出竞品时，向竞争对手大声叫阵，并不是什么奇怪的事情。但几个月前，双方还在发布会上握手言欢，如今苹果却径直向微软发起冲击，这也说明在苹果看来，平板市场上的竞争有多么激烈。

昨天，苹果还需要拉微软为自己站台，向消费者表明自己也能搞定商务工作。而今天，苹果就开始贬低微软，只为让消费者相信自己的技术水平更高一筹。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

Apple stepped up in its never-ending battle with rival Microsoft.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company rolled out a smaller version of its iPad Pro tablet device on Monday, targeting corporate clients and office workers. The device, which competes with Microsoft’s high-end tablets such as the Surface Pro and Surface Book, was unveiled with a 9.7-inch screen size while its larger iPad Pro sibling still has a 12.9-inch display.

Apple AAPL -0.01% is betting that corporate customers will want a smaller version of the iPad Pro, which went on sale last fall, framing it as more comfortable to carry while also retaining support for Apple’s Pencil stylus and removable keyboard.

The new device, introduced during Apple’s firstmedia event of 2016, highlights the consumer tech giant’s continuing efforts to became a big corporate technology seller.

Over the past year, Apple has partnered with legacy enterprise companies, including IBM IBM 1.05% and Cisco CSCO -0.49% , to cross-sell products. Apple hopes these high-profile partnerships will help it build relationships with corporations that would have been more difficult to do without help from traditional business technology providers.

In September, Apple shocked technology analysts and journalists when it invited a Microsoftexecutive to appear at a fall media event in which Apple first trotted out the iPad Pro. The two companies have been fierce rivals for decades, but they temporarily put aside their differences (at least on stage) to demonstrate how each company’s products work in tandem.

Apple needed Microsoft’s credibility with businesses to show how its new tablet could be used to run Microsoft’s Office software suite. For Microsoft, it was just another example of the company trying to illustrate how much more willing it is to collaborate with rivals under current chief executive Satya Nadella than under former CEO Steve Ballmer.

The charade seemed to work in Apple’s favor, with a February International Data Corporation reportnoting Apple’s iPad Pro outsold Microsoft Surface-branded devices during the fourth quarter of 2015.

Now that Apple seems to have gotten what it wanted out of Microsoft, the company went on a full-court press against the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation during its latest media event.

Apple’s head marketer Phil Schiller took several shots at Microsoft during his presentation of the new iPad, suggesting Apple is hoping to convert the millions of Windows users in the marketplace to jump-ship to the world of Apple’s operating systems comprised of iOS and Mac OS.

Schiller quipped that the majority of new iPad Pro customers “are coming from a Windows PC,” and he belittled both the Windows operating system and PCs powered by it, reflecting they were created before modern technological innovations like the Internet and Apple’s App Store.

Schiller also cited that that there are over 600 million personal computers in use today “that are over five-years-old.”

“This is really sad,” said Schiller.

Even Apple CEO Tim Cook chimed in after Schiller’s talk to encourage PC users to ditch Windows and hook up with Apple.

“We think that whether you already have an iPad or whether it’s time to replace that PC laptop, the iPad Pro is an amazing choice that allows you to do so much more,” Cook posited.

It’s not surprising that Apple executives would be quick to call out rivals as they unveil new competing products. But the fact that Apple went straight after Microsoft after only a few months when it invited the company to its own press event is noteworthy because it reveals how intense the tablet market is for Apple.

One day Apple needs Microsoft to show consumers that it can do business, and then the next day Apple disparages Microsoft to persuade those consumers that it has superior technology.