中国厂商缘何复刻摩托罗拉和诺基亚的老式手机

为了在日益激烈的手机市场占得先机，中国厂商开始复刻西方品牌的产品，诺基亚（Nokia）经典款3310等本世纪初的著名手机，借此又重获新生。

苹果和三星在全球的智能手机市场占据了领先地位，但中国市场惊人的增长也让本土厂商有机会崭露头角，中国的华为如今已成为全球第三大手机厂商。

在中国，Oppo去年异军突起，夺取了最大的市场份额，并在亚洲迅速扩张，坐稳了全球第四大厂商的位置，尽管日益不景气的发达西方国家对它了解甚少。另一个与之紧密相关的中国品牌Vivo则挤进了全球第五名。

不过，这也意味着中国的老牌大厂联想和TCL等正在失势。其中一些厂商如今指望通过复刻西方品牌，重新赢得国内外的份额。

在今年的世界移动通信大会（MWC）上，复刻版的诺基亚3310在一系列同质化的智能手机中格外显眼。这款搅局者鲜艳的外壳和长达一个月的续航时间，让希望戒除数字毒瘾的老一代粉丝怦然心动。

这款新手机由芬兰公司HMD Global发布，项目由前诺基亚高管领导，中国电子巨头富士康（Foxconn）对此进行了赞助。后者还为苹果、索尼等其他公司制造设备。

复刻版3310的售价为49欧元。该产品旨在吸引西方国家的老顾客，同时寻找新兴市场中想要好看又可靠的手机的年轻一代用户。

黑莓（BlackBerry）借助中国的TCL，在巴塞罗那的MWC上同样引起了轰动。该公司发布了一款黑莓授权的手机，它拥有物理键盘，即便是苹果的iPhone彻底革命了智能手机市场，这种键盘依旧有许多忠实的职业用户。黑莓将会为该手机提供安全软件。

TCL的业务横跨电视机到洗衣机等各个电器领域，他们让法国的阿尔卡特（Alcatel）维持了十年生机。Strategy Analytics 的数据显示，TCL-阿尔卡特如今是全球第十大智能手机厂商。

国际扩张

联想在2014年收购了美国的手机先驱摩托罗拉，并在当时一跃成为全球第三大手机厂商，尽管如今已经跌至第九，但他们准备利用摩托罗拉作为其高端手机品牌卷土重来。

这家中国公司甚至也开始效仿诺基亚，复刻翻盖的老式手机摩托罗拉Razr，这是2004年和2005年全球第二畅销的款式。

联想总裁杨元庆在本周接受美国全国广播公司财经频道（CNBC）采访时表示，随着公司试图进军美国等发达国家市场，发布复刻版Razr是将用户带回摩托罗拉的策略之一。

荷兰公司飞利浦（Philips）将手机品牌授权给冠捷科技（TPV Technology）的子公司桑菲（Sang Fei）之后，其手机也依靠着印度和中国市场销量存活着。桑菲同时还生产飞利浦电视机。

目前，尽管发达国家市场的需求已经进入高原期，中国本土市场却仍在增长，华为、Oppo和Vivo等领先的手机厂商正在国内市场努力发展自身品牌。

政府报告显示，全球手机的出货量有三分之一流入了中国，这其中有90%都是国内公司的产品。

不过，Strategy Analytics的分析师尼尔•莫斯顿表示，随着市场上的智能手机模仿程度越来越高，利润越来越小，竞争者可能会试图利用熟悉的西方品牌创造机会，超越对手。

针对中国厂商在海外的动作，他表示：“随着中国市场达到饱和，实现有机增长的难度提升，这些品牌可能会考虑用收购的办法最快地加速扩张。”

“到了某个时刻，华为、Vivo或Oppo可能会发现收购已有的国际品牌变成了扩张的最好途径。”

分析师认为，潜在收购目标包括那些遭遇困境的著名手机品牌，例如日本的索尼或中国台湾的多普达（HTC）。

CCS Insight的手机行业分析师本•伍德表示：“未来我们可能会看见更多当年的品牌被中国厂商收购。”（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

Once famous mobile phones such as Nokia's classic 3310 from the turn of the century have been given a new lease of life as Chinese manufacturers revive Western brands to get an edge in an increasingly cut-throat handset market.

Apple and Samsung lead the smartphone pack worldwide but impressive growth in the Chinese market has left room for a host of home-grown manufacturers to come to the fore, with China's Huawei now third in the world.

Within China, Oppo surged to become market leader last year and it is expanding rapidly in Asia to stand fourth in the world rankings, even if its brand is little known in developed and increasingly stagnant Western markets. A closely related Chinese brand, Vivo, has muscled its way into fifth place globally.

What this means, though, is that former Chinese market leaders, such as Lenovo and TCL Communications, are losing ground, and some are counting on retro Western brands to revive their fortunes at home and abroad.

Emerging from a sea of indistinguishable smartphones, the showstopper at this year's main European technology trade fair was a revival of the Nokia 3310, its brightly colored cases and month-long battery life tugging at the heartstrings of erstwhile fans in search of a digital detox.

The new phone was launched by Finnish firm HMD Global, led by former Nokia executives and backed financially by Chinese electronics giant Foxconn, which makes devices for Apple (aapl) and Sony, among others.

Priced at 49 euros, the 3310 is meant to appeal to old fans in the West as well as finding a new generation of younger users in emerging markets looking for a good-looking reliable phone.

The BlackBerry made a splash at the Barcelona trade fair too thanks to China's TCL Communication, which unveiled a BlackBerry-licensed handset with the physical keyboard many professionals clung onto even as Apple's iPhone revolutionized the smartphone market. BlackBerry (bbry) supplies the phone's security software.

TCL, which is part of a group that makes appliances ranging from TVs to washing machines, has kept France's Alcatel brand alive for a decade. TCL-Alcatel is now the world's 10th biggest smartphone maker, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

Lenovo, the world's third largest mobile phone supplier in 2014 when it acquired U.S. cellphone pioneer Motorola, has subsequently sunk to ninth globally but is counting on Motorola as its premium smartphone brand to battle back.

The Chinese firm is even open to following in Nokia's footsteps and reviving the retro, flip-top Motorola Razr, which was the second best selling phone in the world in 2004 and 2005.

Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing told CNBC this week that launching a revamped Razr could be a way of bringing customers back to the Motorola brand as it tries to drive into developed markets such as the United States.

The Philips handset brand also lives on in India and China after the Dutch firm licensed its brand to Sang Fei, a subsidiary of TPV Technology, which also makes Philips television sets.

For now, though, the top Chinese phone makers such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, look set on developing their own brands in a domestic market that is still growing even as demand in developed economies plateaus.

China accounted for more than a third of the world's mobile phones shipped last year and domestic firms still had 90 percent of sales, according to a government report.

But as the market becomes overrun with me-too smartphones and margins evaporate, rivals may spot more opportunities to leapfrog rivals by capitalizing on familiar Western brands, said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston.

"As the Chinese market peaks and organic growth becomes harder, these brands may consider takeovers as the fastest way to speed up their expansion," he said, refering to moves overseas.

"At some point, either Huawei, Vivo, or Oppo may come to the point where buying an existing international brand is their best way to expand," Mawston said.

Analysts say possible targets could include famous phone brands fallen on hard times including Japan's Sony (sne) or Taiwan's HTC (htc).

"It could well be that we see more brands of yesteryear picked up by Chinese brands," said phone industry analyst Ben Wood of CCS Insight.