關注社會:臺灣幫得了宏達國際嗎?

Three little letters. So much anxiety.

區區三個英文字母，卻又如此讓人不安。

Worries over the state of once-celebrated Taiwanese handset maker HTC have been soaring since Taiwan's Economic Minister Shih Yen-shiang urged the local public last week to buy more cell phones from company in an effort to turn what was once a fashion statement into an act of patriotism.

臺灣經濟部部長施顏祥上週敦促臺灣民衆購買更多宏達國際電子股份有限公司(HTC co.，簡稱：宏達國際)生產的手機，將曾經的時尚宣言變成愛國行動。自此之後，外界對這家昔日大名鼎鼎的臺灣手機生產商現狀的擔憂就一直在加深。

Central bank Gov. Perng Fai-nan also said Taiwan should help bolster the company, despite having been spotted playing with an Apple iPhone at previous press conferences. Mr. Perng did own an iPhone the previous year as part of an effort to better understand Apple products, the bank said in a statement Tuesday.

臺灣央行總裁彭淮南也說，臺灣應該幫助宏達國際，儘管有人曾看到他此前在多場新聞發佈會上使用蘋果(Apple)的iPhone手機。臺灣央行週二發表聲明說，彭淮南上一年確曾有一部iPhone手機，但那是爲了更好地瞭解蘋果的產品。

The government's cheerleading efforts are understandable given HTC's troubles recently, but can the patriotism play save the company from sliding further?

鑑於宏達國際最近遇到的困境，臺灣政府的加油鼓勁之舉是可以理解的，但愛國主義戲碼能夠挽救宏達國際使其免於進一步走下坡路嗎？

Formerly the pride of Taiwanese tech companies, HTC's share of the global smartphone market was a respectable 11% in the second quarter of 2011. Since then, the company's market share has fallen by half. In its most recent earnings call, HTC indicated that third-quarter revenue is likely to drop to half its year-earlier levels.

宏達國際曾是臺灣科技公司的驕傲，2011年二季度它在全球智能手機市場的份額高達11%。但該公司目前的市場份額已經較那時下滑了一半。在近期的收益電話會議上，宏達國際暗示三季度營收可能較上年同期下滑一半。

HTC's hopes of becoming the world's leading smartphone maker were long ago quashed by Apple and Samsung, which have poured billions of dollars in marketing to differentiate themselves in a market where almost all phones carry advanced and similar features, analysts say.

分析人士說，宏達國際成爲世界上最大智能手機生產商的希望早就被蘋果和三星(Samsung)粉碎了。蘋果和三星斥資數十億美元用於產品營銷，以便讓自己的手機在幾乎所有手機都擁有先進且類似功能的市場上別具一格。

The Taiwanese firm had hoped its 'killer' One series smartphone, which features a high-performance camera, would turn things around in the first half of 2012. But a report from technology research agency Gartner dated Tuesday showed that HTC's ranking in the global handset market in the second quarter slipped further to the eighth place, a notch lower than a year ago.

2012年上半年，這家臺灣公司曾希望自己的“殺手口”One系列智能手機──該系列智能手機的主要賣點是配有高性能攝像頭──能夠扭轉公司的頹勢。但科技市場研究公司Gartner週二的一份報告顯示，二季度宏達國際在全球手機市場的排名進一步下滑，至第八位，比上年降了一位。

Institutional investors have exited en masse: HTC's share price in Taipei is now around US$8, less than a fifth of its all-time high US$43 just 16 months ago. The company has been likened to beleaguered Blackberry maker Research in Motion and was even recently rumored to be a takeover target.

機構投資者已經大批撤離。宏達國際在臺北上市的股票目前約爲每股8美元，不到16個月前的歷史最高點每股43美元的五分之一。人們將其與陷入困境的黑莓(Blackberry)生產商Research in Motion相提並論，最近甚至有傳聞說宏達國際成爲了收購目標。

Over the past several years, when banana or orange prices in Taiwan dived due to either production gluts or warm weather, the government would buy thousands of metric tons of locally-grown produce to help the farmers, and urged the public to consumer more fruit. But analysts are skeptical the same gambit will work in HTC's case.

過去幾年中，在臺灣香蕉或橙子的價格因產量過剩或天氣過於溫暖而大幅下跌時，臺灣政府會買進數千噸本地產農產品來幫助農戶，並呼籲民衆消費更多的水果。但分析人士懷疑同樣的方法對宏達國際是否會有效。

'HTC phones are not oranges. If HTC phones are Taiwan's 'wax apples' and are unique, even if they are slightly expensive, people will love them and the government doesn't have to say anything,' said Chen Po-chih, head of a private economic research agency Taiwan Thinktank.

民間經濟研究機構臺灣智庫(Taiwan Thinktank)負責人陳博志說，宏達國際的手機不是橙子，如果宏達國際是臺灣的蓮霧並且是獨一無二的，就算略微貴一點，人們也會喜歡的，政府什麼都不用說。

The island's social media users were likewise skeptical.

臺灣社交媒體用戶也持類似的懷疑態度。

'I will give HTC another chance only if it really improves,' wrote Facebook user Chuang Chia-wei. 'It's a free market.'

Facebook用戶Chuang Chia-wei寫道，只有宏達國際真的改進了，我纔會再給它一次機會，這是一個自由市場。

Some analysts said HTC's domestic popularity tumbled further in January, after Chairwoman Cher Wang said touched a political nerve in Taiwan by referring to HTC as 'a Chinese brand.'

一些分析人士說，今年1月，宏達國際董事長王雪紅稱其是一個“中國品牌”，這觸動了臺灣民衆的政治神經，該公司在臺灣的人氣進一步暴跌。

Taiwanese people's general preference of foreign brands is also another problem facing HTC domestically, they said.

分析人士說，臺灣民衆普遍喜歡外國品牌，這是宏達國際在臺灣面臨的又一個問題。

Then there's the question of how much impact Taiwanese consumers, who number 23 million, can have on a company that ships between 30 and 35 million handsets a year.

此外，對於一個手機出貨量每年在3,000萬到3,500萬部的公司來說，臺灣2,300萬的消費者能帶來多大幫助也是個問題。

In a bid to boost employee morale and prioritize areas that need to be improved, HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou told staff in an internal email obtained by Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday that the 15-year-old Taiwanese company will have to work on its products, quality, brand awareness and internal communication.

爲鼓舞員工士氣，釐清需要優先改進的領域，宏達國際首席執行長周永明在一份內部電子郵件中對員工說，這家成立了15年的臺灣公司將必須專注於產品、質量、品牌知名度和內部溝通。道瓊斯通訊社週三拿到了這份電子郵件。

Despite that, Mr. Chou told staff they 'have every reason to remain confident,' citing new products in the pipeline and the company's strength in innovation, and urged them not to be influenced by market talk.

儘管如此，周永明對員工說，鑑於公司正在研發的新產品和公司的創新優勢，員工完全有理由保持十足的信心，他還敦促員工不要受市場傳言的影響。