英伟达：安卓平板有戏

    像全球其它芯片制造商一样，英伟达（Nvidia）公司也把赌注压在了移动业务上。本周早些时候，在拉斯维加斯举办的消费电子产品展（CES）上，英伟达公司展出了多款安装了Tegra 3四核处理器的安卓平板，其中包括华硕公司（Asus）一款只卖250美元的触屏平板。不过到目前为止，安卓平板大军仍然无法撼动iPad在平板电脑市场上的垄断地位。我们采访了英伟达公司的共同创始人兼CEO黄仁勋，看看英伟达的平板电脑大计及其竞争策略。

    《财富》：到目前为止，安卓平板仍然令人失望，你认为这种情况会改变吗？

    黄仁勋：局面肯定会改观。市场上有各种各样的消费者，他们也有着不同的需求，一种型号不可能满足所有人的要求。安卓平板头两年的表现不尽如人意。首先是因为安卓有两个独立的平台，一个是手机版“老安卓”，还有一个平板安卓系统。但随着谷歌（Google）推出了最新的“冰淇淋三明治”系统，安卓又成了一个统一的平台。其次，安卓平板起初的价格太高了。苹果的iPad为平板电脑设置了一个价格上限，因此安卓厂商都在跌跌撞撞地寻找自己的价格点。不过现在市场已经找到了正确的价格点。

    你们最大的竞争对手是谁？

    摆在我们面前的头号威胁是，我们最终需要让消费者相信，市场对这些视觉效果饱满的设备是有需求的。我们喜欢生产高分辨率的数码设备，而且市场需求也自然而然地朝着视觉效果越来越饱满的方向发展。我们的主要对手是英特尔（Intel）和高通（Qualcomm）。

    你们和竞争对手的区别在哪里？

    我们是这三家公司中最年轻的。英特尔是做电脑起家的，高通的强项在于数据连通业务，而我们的卖点是GPU（图形处理器）。如果你的数码设备主要用来运行应用程序或用于企业用途，那么英特尔在这方面相当具有优势。如果你的数码设备主要用于通讯，那么高通在这方面具有优势。不过，如果你看重的是视觉体验，比如游戏设备，那么我们比其他两家公司更具有优势。我们三家公司都具有调制解调器技术，我们也都有CPU，但我们的强项是GPU。我们各有各的核心优势。我们就好比三家餐厅，各有各的招牌菜。

    在除GPU之外的其它领域里，你们是否有一些弱项需要加强？

    我们直接忽略这些弱项。如果你是开中餐馆的，你就没必要去做意大利面，这就是我们的生存之道。平板电脑是一项非常庞大的业务，而且商机还在猛增。在消费电子展的展厅里走一走，你会发现越来越多纤薄漂亮的显示设备。这些才是我们的机会，我们的机会在于提高显示设备的分辨率。

    你认为消费者会在乎平板电脑里安装的是Tegra 3处理器还是英特尔芯片吗？

    没错，这一点十分重要。比如走进一家卖苹果设备的商店，由于你相信苹果公司已经为你选择好了一系列正确的电子元件，因此你会对它很有信心。这跟你到一家信任的餐厅去吃饭是一回事。但安卓市场上有很多个品牌，而你又对这些设备一无所知。所以如果这些设备有一个统一的元件的话也是件好事。另外平板电脑的体验主要取决于操作系统和处理器。这也是为什么我们所有的OEM厂商都会自豪地说“这款平板搭载了英伟达的Tegra处理器”。

    译者：朴成奎

    Like every other chipmaker on the planet, Nvidia (NVDA) is making a big bet on mobile. Earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company unveiled a slew of new Android tablets powered by its Tegra 3 chip, a new quad-core processor. The lineup includes an Asus touchscreen tablet that will sell for just $250. But so far, Android tablets have failed to wow the market, which is still dominated by Apple's (AAPL) iPad. We sat down with the company's co-founder and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, to find out how Nvidia plans to take on tablets (and its rivals).

    Fortune: So far, Android tablets have been a disappointment. Do you think that could change?

    Huang: It will surely get better. There are too many different types of people with different needs, and one size doesn't fit all. The first couple of years Android tablets got off to a clumsy start. First, Android was splintered into two major platforms -- there was the old Android and the tablet Android. But now the whole thing has been united under Ice Cream Sandwich [the latest version of Google's (GOOG) operating system] which unifies Android into one single platform. Second, the devices came out too expensive. Apple set a price ceiling and everybody stumbled and searched for the right price point. Now the market has discovered the right price point.

    Who's your biggest competitor?

    Our number one threat is ultimately getting customers to believe that there's market demand for building these visually rich devices. We love to build digital devices with a lot of pixels and demand is naturally going towards richer and richer displays. We compete against Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM) in the fringes. Those are our major competitors.

    How are you different from your competitors?

    Of the the three companies we're the youngest. Intel started as a computer company, Qualcomm came in through connectivity, and our expertise is GPUs [graphics processing units]. And so if your digital device is just about running apps and enterprise computing is what you're trying to do then of course Intel has a really strong position. If your digital device is about communication then of course Qualcomm has a strong position. But if it's about a visual experience like a gaming device, we tend to have a much stronger position. So the three of us all have modem technologies and we all have CPUs, but we're strongest in GPUs. We all have our core strengths. It's like we're all restaurants but we all focus on a slightly different style.

    Do you need to address any of your weaknesses in those other areas?

    We just ignore it. If you're a Chinese restaurant you don't go chasing after doing some spaghetti on the side. This is what we do for a living. It's a large business and the opportunities are exploding. Just walk around the [CES] floor and you'll see more and more thin and beautiful displays. Those are our opportunities. Driving pixels is our opportunity.

    Do consumers care whether they have a Tegra 3 processor or an Intel chip inside a tablet?

    Yes, this is so important. If you walk into a store and there's an Apple device you trust that that company has made the right choices for you about the electronics and the chips inside that device. It's the same thing when you go to a restaurant that you trust. But in the Android world there are so many brands and you just don't know anything about these devices. So it's nice when there's a unifying ingredient. And the experience of these tablets depends on the operating system and the processor, it defines the experience. That's why you look at all our OEMs they all say 'this has a Tegra processor.'