在
采用谷歌(Google Inc. GOOG -0.08% )移动操作系统安卓(Android)的手机当中，三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF +1.69% )的销量已经位居第一。对谷歌来说，这是一个问题。去年三星电子安卓手机发货量超过第二大安卓手机生产商将近两亿部。其实力越来越大，在提升谷歌移动广告收入的同时，也在这家互联网公司的内部引发了担忧。知情人士说，谷歌高管担心，如果三星获得更大的影响力，那么它就有可能从谷歌那里索取金钱或其他方面的让步。
知情人士说，在手机行业“移动世界大会”(Mobile World Congress)于巴塞罗那举行、谷歌安卓高管同合作伙伴会面之际，这家互联网搜索公司希望宏达国际(HTC Corp.)等制造商及惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ +3.78% )等新来者生产的安卓手机能够成为三星的有力竞争对手。
谷歌及三星的代表不予置评。
在谷歌内部，对三星的担忧已经在公开讨论。
知情人士说，谷歌去年秋季的一场高管活动期间，安卓负责人鲁宾(Andy Rubin)对三星的成功加以赞扬，并表示两家公司的合作是互惠互利的。
Associated Press
参观者在巴塞罗那举办的移动世界大会上与新推出的三星Galaxy Note 8.0合影。
从他向谷歌高管发表的这些言论可以看到，在三星发力移动终端市场、向苹果(Apple Inc. AAPL +1.39% )等共同对手发起攻势之际，两家公司的伙伴关系却变得日益复杂。
据研究公司IDC的数据，去年三星智能手机的出货量为2.158亿部，占全球市场的39.6%，其中几乎全部是安卓手机；苹果的出货量为1.368亿部，市场占有率25.1%。IDC说，三星和苹果在2011年旗鼓相当，各自在高速膨胀的智能手机市场取得19%的份额。
对谷歌而言，问题在于三星在安卓市场的份额不断扩大，把距离最近的竞争对手也甩出了很远。据IDC的数据，三星在2012年第四季度进一步扩大它在安卓手机中的领先地位，取得40.2%的份额，高于上年同期的38.7%。排在第二位的华为技术有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.) 的份额为6.6%，与去年同期持平。
IDC的数据显示，2012年第四季度三星在安卓平板电脑市场中的份额从上年同期的15.6%猛增至27.9%，从而超过亚马逊(Amazon.com)成为最大的安卓平板厂商。亚马逊的Kindle Fire平板采用安卓系统，2012年第四季度份额为21.8%，低于上年同期的34.5%。
三星在它与谷歌的关系中有着特殊的影响力，因为几乎所有安卓终端都安装了谷歌搜索、YouTube视频网站等为谷歌产生收入的谷歌应用。但亚马逊采用修改版的安卓系统，没有在其设备上安装谷歌应用。这使得谷歌的移动业务收入尤其倚重三星。
多位知悉两家公司关系的人士说，谷歌担心三星将在谷歌网页搜索引擎产生的在线广告收入中索要更大份额。
其中一位人士说，三星通常取得这类收入的10%以上。另一位知情人士说，三星曾暗示它可能希望得到更大分成，特别是在谷歌开始从谷歌地图和YouTube等应用中取得更多收入的时候。
外部观察者已经开始认识到两家公司的关系正在变化。小型专业投资银行Rutberg & Co.的董事总经理昌德(Rajeev Chand)说，三星对谷歌构成了实实在在的威胁。他说，假以时日，三星将能够利用其市场支配地位从谷歌那里谈到更优的条款。
昌德说，这可能包括让三星“先于其他生产商获得更佳版本的安卓软件”，并允许三星把更多自选应用安装到手机上，或者是让三星获取谷歌移动广告收入中的更大份额。
谷歌去年秋季说，其年度移动相关收入预计将达80亿美元。这个数字包括苹果终端上网页搜索广告的销售收入，也包括安卓终端上的音、视频销售收入。
多位分析师曾估计，去年三星销售安卓手机、平板电脑的收入约为600亿美元，高于2011年的300亿美元。去年三星总收入超过1,800亿美元，较前年增长20%左右。
知悉谷歌想法的人士说，如果谷歌与三星关系恶化，那么这家美国公司的安卓部门就有可能与谷歌旗下的摩托罗拉合作，就像苹果软硬件部门联合生产iPhone和iPad一样，以此确保摩托罗拉的安卓终端优于竞争对手。但此举可能会疏远其他安卓终端生产商。
目前没有证据表明谷歌偏袒摩托罗拉、冷落其他安卓设备生产商。
三星也在分散赌注，具体办法是生产使用微软(Microsoft Corp.)Windows Phone和Tizen系统的手机。Tizen是一款正由三星和微处理器制造商英特尔(Intel Corp.)联合开发的操作系统。
而知情人士曾说，谷歌旗下的摩托罗拉也在开发它称为“X Phone”的手机，来与苹果iPhone和三星Galaxy S手机竞争。三星周一表示，Galaxy S IV将于3月14日在纽约发布。
摩托罗拉于2012年12月将三星负责战略营销的副总裁华莱士(Brian Wallace)招至麾下。华莱士曾负责三星备受赞扬的Galaxy手机电视广告。而据知情人士说，三星过去一年也在挖摩托罗拉的工程师。
谷歌和三星仍然互相视为共同对抗苹果的伙伴。三星本周发布八英寸的Galaxy平板，将与苹果公司的iPad Mini竞争。
一位知情人士说，谷歌对惠普等刚刚采用安卓系统的厂商寄予厚望。在移动世界大会上，惠普展示出了一系列计划今春上市的安卓平板中的第一款，基本型号的售价只有169.99美元。
AMIR EFRATI
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Samsung Electronics Co. has become the biggest seller of mobile devices using Google Inc.'s Android mobile operating system. That creates a problem for Google.
Samsung's growing might岸last year, the South Korean manufacturer shipped nearly 200 million more Android smartphones than the next-biggest Android-device maker岸has boosted Google's mobile-ad revenue but also is causing concern inside the Internet company. Google executives are worried that Samsung could extract financial or other concessions if it gains more leverage, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Now as the mobile industry's Mobile World Congress convention gets under way in Barcelona and Google Android executives meet with the company's partners, the Internet search company is hoping new Android devices from manufacturers such as HTC Corp. and newcomers including Hewlett-Packard Co. can become legitimate competitors to Samsung, the people said.
Representatives for Google and Samsung declined to comment.
Inside Google, concerns about Samsung are openly discussed.
At a Google event last fall for its executives, Android head Andy Rubin praised Samsung's success and said the partnership had been mutually beneficial, a person familiar with the meeting said.
But Mr. Rubin also said Samsung could become a threat if it attains a dominant position among mobile-device manufacturers that use Android, the person said. Mr. Rubin said that Google's recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which makes Android-based smartphones and tablets, served as a kind of insurance policy, or 'hedge,' against a manufacturer such as Samsung gaining too much power over Android, the person said. Mr. Rubin wasn't available for comment for this article.
His comments to Google executives illustrate the company's increasingly complicated relationship with Samsung, just as Samsung gathers momentum in the mobile-device market against mutual rivals such as Apple Inc.
Samsung shipped 215.8 million smartphones, virtually all of which were Android devices, or 39.6% of the global market last year, versus Apple's 136.8 million, or 25.1%, according to research firm IDC. Samsung and Apple had been neck and neck in 2011, with each capturing around 19% of the surging market, IDC said.
The issue for Google is that Samsung is gaining share in the Android market and is miles ahead of its nearest competitor. Samsung increased its lead in Android-based smartphones, claiming 40.2% of the market in the fourth quarter, up from 38.7% a year earlier, according to IDC. Huawei Technologies Co. was in second place, with 6.6%, the same share as a year earlier.
In Android-based tablets, Samsung's share jumped to 27.9% in the fourth quarter from 15.6% a year earlier, according to IDC. That moved Samsung past Amazon.com Inc., whose Kindle Fire tablet uses Android, to become the biggest maker of Android tablets. Amazon had 21.8% of the market in the fourth quarter, down from 34.5% a year earlier.
Samsung has particular power in its relationship with Google because Google applications that generate revenue for the Silicon Valley company, such as the Google Web-search engine and the YouTube video site, come loaded on almost all Android devices. Amazon, however, uses a tweaked version of Android and doesn't load Google apps on its devices. That makes Google particularly dependent on Samsung for mobile revenue.
Several people familiar with the relationship between the companies said Google fears that Samsung will demand a greater share of the online-advertising revenue that Google generates from its Web-search engine.
Samsung typically has received more than 10% of such revenue, one of the people said. Samsung has signaled that it might want more, especially as Google begins to produce more revenue from apps such as Google Maps and YouTube, another person familiar with the matter said.
Outside observers are beginning to recognize the changing nature of the relationship. 'There is a threat from Samsung to Google that is real,' said Rajeev Chand, a managing director at boutique investment bank Rutberg & Co. 'Over time, Samsung will be able to leverage its market-share dominance to negotiate better terms from Google.'
That might include getting 'better versions of Android software before other manufacturers,' suggested Mr. Chand, as well as the ability to load more applications of its own choosing onto devices, or reaping a greater share of Google's mobile-ad revenue.
Google last fall said it is on pace to generate $8 billion annually in mobile-related revenue. That figure includes revenue from sales of its Web-search ads that appear on Apple devices, as well as music and video sales on Android devices.
Several analysts have estimated that Samsung generated about $60 billion in revenue from Android smartphone and tablet sales last year, up from around $30 billion in 2011. Overall, Samsung's revenue totaled more than $180 billion last year, up about 20% from a year earlier.
In the event that Google's relationship with Samsung goes south, the U.S. company's Android business could work with the company's Motorola unit岸similar to the way Apple's hardware and software units work together to create iPhones and iPads岸to make sure Motorola's Android devices are superior to the competition, people familiar with Google's thinking said. Such a move could alienate other Android device makers, however.
There currently is no evidence Google is favoring Motorola over other Android-device manufacturers.
Samsung also is spreading its bets by making devices powered by Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile software, as well as with Tizen, an operating system that is being co-developed by Samsung and microprocessor maker Intel Corp.
Meanwhile, Google's Motorola has been developing what it calls the X Phone to compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S devices, people with knowledge of the initiative have said. Samsung said Monday that the Galaxy S IV will be unveiled March 14 in New York.
Motorola in December poached Samsung's vice president of strategic marketing, Brian Wallace, who had worked on the company's widely praised television ads for the Galaxy phone. Samsung, for its part, has been reaching into Motorola to hire engineering talent over the past year, people familiar with the matter said.
Google and Samsung still view each other as partners in the fight against Apple. This week, Samsung unveiled an 8-inch Galaxy tablet that would compete against Apple's iPad Mini.
Google has hopes for some new Android entrants such as H-P, a person familiar with the matter said. During the Mobile World Congress, H-P showed off its first in a series of Android tablets slated to hit the market starting this spring, priced aggressively at $169.99 for the basic model.
AMIR EFRATI
Samsung's growing might岸last year, the South Korean manufacturer shipped nearly 200 million more Android smartphones than the next-biggest Android-device maker岸has boosted Google's mobile-ad revenue but also is causing concern inside the Internet company. Google executives are worried that Samsung could extract financial or other concessions if it gains more leverage, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Now as the mobile industry's Mobile World Congress convention gets under way in Barcelona and Google Android executives meet with the company's partners, the Internet search company is hoping new Android devices from manufacturers such as HTC Corp. and newcomers including Hewlett-Packard Co. can become legitimate competitors to Samsung, the people said.
Representatives for Google and Samsung declined to comment.
Inside Google, concerns about Samsung are openly discussed.
At a Google event last fall for its executives, Android head Andy Rubin praised Samsung's success and said the partnership had been mutually beneficial, a person familiar with the meeting said.
But Mr. Rubin also said Samsung could become a threat if it attains a dominant position among mobile-device manufacturers that use Android, the person said. Mr. Rubin said that Google's recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which makes Android-based smartphones and tablets, served as a kind of insurance policy, or 'hedge,' against a manufacturer such as Samsung gaining too much power over Android, the person said. Mr. Rubin wasn't available for comment for this article.
His comments to Google executives illustrate the company's increasingly complicated relationship with Samsung, just as Samsung gathers momentum in the mobile-device market against mutual rivals such as Apple Inc.
Samsung shipped 215.8 million smartphones, virtually all of which were Android devices, or 39.6% of the global market last year, versus Apple's 136.8 million, or 25.1%, according to research firm IDC. Samsung and Apple had been neck and neck in 2011, with each capturing around 19% of the surging market, IDC said.
The issue for Google is that Samsung is gaining share in the Android market and is miles ahead of its nearest competitor. Samsung increased its lead in Android-based smartphones, claiming 40.2% of the market in the fourth quarter, up from 38.7% a year earlier, according to IDC. Huawei Technologies Co. was in second place, with 6.6%, the same share as a year earlier.
In Android-based tablets, Samsung's share jumped to 27.9% in the fourth quarter from 15.6% a year earlier, according to IDC. That moved Samsung past Amazon.com Inc., whose Kindle Fire tablet uses Android, to become the biggest maker of Android tablets. Amazon had 21.8% of the market in the fourth quarter, down from 34.5% a year earlier.
Samsung has particular power in its relationship with Google because Google applications that generate revenue for the Silicon Valley company, such as the Google Web-search engine and the YouTube video site, come loaded on almost all Android devices. Amazon, however, uses a tweaked version of Android and doesn't load Google apps on its devices. That makes Google particularly dependent on Samsung for mobile revenue.
Several people familiar with the relationship between the companies said Google fears that Samsung will demand a greater share of the online-advertising revenue that Google generates from its Web-search engine.
Samsung typically has received more than 10% of such revenue, one of the people said. Samsung has signaled that it might want more, especially as Google begins to produce more revenue from apps such as Google Maps and YouTube, another person familiar with the matter said.
Outside observers are beginning to recognize the changing nature of the relationship. 'There is a threat from Samsung to Google that is real,' said Rajeev Chand, a managing director at boutique investment bank Rutberg & Co. 'Over time, Samsung will be able to leverage its market-share dominance to negotiate better terms from Google.'
That might include getting 'better versions of Android software before other manufacturers,' suggested Mr. Chand, as well as the ability to load more applications of its own choosing onto devices, or reaping a greater share of Google's mobile-ad revenue.
Google last fall said it is on pace to generate $8 billion annually in mobile-related revenue. That figure includes revenue from sales of its Web-search ads that appear on Apple devices, as well as music and video sales on Android devices.
Several analysts have estimated that Samsung generated about $60 billion in revenue from Android smartphone and tablet sales last year, up from around $30 billion in 2011. Overall, Samsung's revenue totaled more than $180 billion last year, up about 20% from a year earlier.
In the event that Google's relationship with Samsung goes south, the U.S. company's Android business could work with the company's Motorola unit岸similar to the way Apple's hardware and software units work together to create iPhones and iPads岸to make sure Motorola's Android devices are superior to the competition, people familiar with Google's thinking said. Such a move could alienate other Android device makers, however.
There currently is no evidence Google is favoring Motorola over other Android-device manufacturers.
Samsung also is spreading its bets by making devices powered by Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile software, as well as with Tizen, an operating system that is being co-developed by Samsung and microprocessor maker Intel Corp.
Meanwhile, Google's Motorola has been developing what it calls the X Phone to compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S devices, people with knowledge of the initiative have said. Samsung said Monday that the Galaxy S IV will be unveiled March 14 in New York.
Motorola in December poached Samsung's vice president of strategic marketing, Brian Wallace, who had worked on the company's widely praised television ads for the Galaxy phone. Samsung, for its part, has been reaching into Motorola to hire engineering talent over the past year, people familiar with the matter said.
Google and Samsung still view each other as partners in the fight against Apple. This week, Samsung unveiled an 8-inch Galaxy tablet that would compete against Apple's iPad Mini.
Google has hopes for some new Android entrants such as H-P, a person familiar with the matter said. During the Mobile World Congress, H-P showed off its first in a series of Android tablets slated to hit the market starting this spring, priced aggressively at $169.99 for the basic model.
AMIR EFRATI
没有评论:
发表评论