小米手機在印度被暫時禁售
A patent dispute has dealt a blow to Xiaomi’s international expansion, leaving the fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker facing a temporary ban on sales in India and further pressure on margins.
一場專利糾紛給小米(Xiaomi)的國際擴張造成打擊，這家發展迅速的中國智能手機制造商在印度遭遇暫時禁售，利潤率面臨更大壓力。
Xiaomi, anointed a valuation in excess of $40bn at its latest fundraising in November, is keen to replicate its popularity in China into other major emerging markets. In April it unveiled plans to expand into as many as 10 foreign markets.
小米希望將其在中國的受歡迎程度複製到其他主要新興市場。在11月的最新一輪融資中，小米估值超過400億美元。今年4月，該公司宣佈了進軍10個國外市場的計劃。However, a Delhi High Court case suggests that this march abroad may also open it to more patent disputes, with companies demanding it pay royalties — something that rivals are less keen to pursue in China where claims are harder to press. Such payments would, in turn, eat into margins or drive up handset prices. In a ruling on a patent dispute with technology group Ericsson, the court ordered Xiaomi to suspend sales until February, pending a further hearing relating to its dispute with the Swedish company.
然而，印度案件預示着小米在進軍海外路上可能還會遭遇更多專利糾紛，擁有專利的企業將要求其支付許可費——競爭對手不太願意在中國起訴，因爲在中國索賠會比較困難。這些支出將進而侵蝕利潤率或推升手機價格。在一項有關小米與瑞典科技企業愛立信(Ericsson)專利糾紛的裁決中，德里高等法院下令小米在明年2月前暫停銷售，等待有關其與愛立信訴訟的進一步審理結果。
Wednesday’s ruling stated that Xiaomi was “restrained from manufacturing, assembling, importing, selling or advertising” its products in India pending a further hearing, while India’s customs authorities were “directed not to allow the import” of mobiles and other products that may infringe Ericsson’s patents.
週三的裁決稱，小米被“禁止”在印度“製造、組裝、進口、銷售或宣傳”其產品，需等待進一步審理結果，同時印度海關被“指示不要放行”可能侵犯愛立信專利的手機和其他產品的“進口”。Without a trove of its own patents, manufacturers such as Xiaomi could ultimately see their costs inflated by 5-20 per cent due to licensing fees, according to some experts. Xiaomi says it acquired 1,141 patents last year, a number considered unimpressive in the tech industry.
一些專家表示，在缺少自主專利的情況下，小米等製造商的成本最終可能會因爲許可費而上升5%至20%。小米表示，去年該公司獲得1141項專利，在科技行業，這一數字並不起眼。Experts said this appeared to be the first patent litigation targeting Xiaomi since it outlined plans to launch into up to 10 foreign markets.
專家們表示，這似乎是小米宣佈計劃進軍10個國外市場以來，首例針對該公司的專利訴訟。“It looks like Xiaomi is experiencing a bit of culture shock in India,” said Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Mobile Phone China Alliance, an industry lobbying group. He said Xiaomi was not the first Chinese smartphone maker to be sued in India, however, it was the first time imports had been halted.
行業遊說組織——手機中國聯盟(Mobile Phone China Alliance)祕書長王豔輝表示：“看來小米正在印度遭遇文化衝擊。”他表示，小米並非唯一一家在印度被起訴的中國智能手機制造商，但它是首個被暫停進口的中國企業。The Delhi court ruling is likely to raise new concerns about possible intellectual property challenges affecting other Chinese smartphone and device makers — a group that includes Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo, analysts said.
分析人士稱，德里高等法院的這項裁決，可能會重新引起外界對其他中國智能手機和設備製造商面臨潛在知識產權挑戰的擔憂，其中包括華爲(Huawei)、中興(ZTE)和聯想(Lenovo)。Manu Jain, head of Xiaomi in India, said the group had not received official notification of the ruling from the court, but that its legal team was “evaluating the situation”.
小米印度分公司負責人馬努•賈因(Manu Jain)表示，小米尚未接到法院方面關於裁決的正式通知，但公司法律團隊正“對目前的形勢進行評估”。
