Genetic Changes to Food May Get Uniform Labeling

Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Opponents of genetically engineered food protested last month at Lafayette Park near the White House.

By STEPHANIE STROM

Published: January 31, 2013

With Washington State on the verge of a ballot initiative that would require labeling of some foods containing genetically engineered ingredients and other states considering similar measures, some of the major food companies and Wal-Mart, the country’s largest grocery store operator, have been discussing lobbying for a national labeling program.

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Chris McManus, with boxes of petitions for his initiative to require the labeling of gene-engineered food sold in Washington State.

Executives from PepsiCo, ConAgra and about 20 other major food companies, as well as Wal-Mart and advocacy groups that favor labeling, attended a meeting in January in Washington convened by the Meridian Institute, which organizes discussions of major issues. The inclusion of Wal-Mart has buoyed hopes among labeling advocates that the big food companies will shift away from tactics like those used to defeat Proposition 37 in California last fall, when corporations spent more than $40 million to oppose the labeling of genetically modified foods.

“They spent an awful lot of money in California — talk about a lack of return on investment,” said Gary Hirshberg, co-chairman of the Just Label It campaign, which advocates national labeling, and chairman of Stonyfield, an organic dairy company.

Instead of quelling the demand for labeling, the defeat of the California measure has spawned a ballot initiative in Washington State and legislative proposals in Connecticut, Vermont, New Mexico and Missouri, and a swelling consumer boycott of some organic or “natural” brands owned by major food companies.

Mr. Hirshberg, who attended the January meeting, said he knew of roughly 20 states considering labeling requirements.

“The big food companies found themselves in an uncomfortable position after Prop. 37, and they’re talking among themselves about alternatives to merely replaying that fight over and over again,” said Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University who attended the meeting.

“They spent a lot of money, got a lot of bad press that propelled the issue into the national debate and alienated some of their customer base, as well as raising issues with some trading partners,” said Mr. Benbrook, who does work on sustainable agriculture.

For more than a decade, almost all processed foods in the United States — like cereals, snacks and salad dressings — have contained ingredients from plants with DNA that has been manipulated in a laboratory. The Food and Drug Administration, other regulators and many scientists say these foods pose no danger. But as Americans ask more pointed questions about what they are eating, popular suspicions about the health and environmental effects of biotechnology are fueling a movement to require that food from genetically modified crops be labeled, if not eliminated.

Impending F.D.A. approval of a genetically modified salmon and the Agriculture Department’s consideration of genetically engineered apples have further intensified the debate.

“We’re at a point where, this summer, families could be sitting at their tables and wondering whether the salmon and sweet corn they’re about to eat has been genetically modified,” said Trudy Bialic, director of public affairs at PCC Natural Markets in Seattle. “The fish has really accelerated concerns.”

Mr. Hirshberg said some company representatives wanted to find ways to persuade the Food and Drug Administration to proceed with federal labeling.

“The F.D.A. is not only employing 20-year-old, and we think obsolete, standards for materiality, but there is a general tendency on the part of the F.D.A. to be resistant to change,” he said. “With an issue as polarized and politicized as this one, it’s going to take a broad-based coalition to crack through that barrier.”

Morgan Liscinsky, an F.D.A. spokeswoman, said the agency considered the “totality of all the data and relevant information” when forming policy guidance. “We’ve continued to evaluate data as it has become available over the last 20 years,” she said.

Neither Mr. Hirshberg nor Mr. Benbrook would identify other companies that participated in the talks, but others confirmed some of the companies represented. Caroline Starke, who represents the Meridian Institute, said she could not comment on a specific meeting or participants.

Proponents of labeling in Washington State have taken a somewhat different tack from those in California, arguing that the failure to label will hurt the state’s fisheries and apple and wheat farms. “It’s a bigger issue than just the right to know,” Ms. Bialic said. “It reaches deep into our state’s economy because of the impact this is going to have on international trade.”

A third of the apples grown in Washington State are exported, many of them to markets for high-value products around the Pacific Rim, where many countries require labeling. Apple, fish and wheat farmers in Washington State worry that those countries and others among the 62 nations that require some labeling of genetically modified foods will be much more wary of whole foods than of processed goods.

The Washington measure would not apply to meat or dairy products from animals fed genetically engineered feed, and it sharply limits the ability to collect damages for mislabeling.

Mr. Benbrook and consumer advocates say the federal agencies responsible for things like labeling have relied on research financed by companies that make genetically modified seeds.

“If there is a documented issue with this overseas, it could have a devastating impact on the U.S. food system and agriculture,” Mr. Benbrook said. “The F.D.A. isn’t going to get very far with international governments by saying Monsanto and Syngenta told us these foods are safe and we believed them.”

Advocacy groups also have denounced the appointment of Michael R. Taylor, a former executive at Monsanto, as the F.D.A.’s deputy commissioner for food and veterinary medicine.

Ms. Liscinsky of the F.D.A. said Mr. Taylor was recused from issues involving biotechnology.

What has excited proponents of labeling most is Wal-Mart’s participation in the meeting. The retailer came under fire from consumer advocates last summer for its decision to sell a variety of genetically engineered sweet corn created by Monsanto.

Because Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer, a move by the company to require suppliers to label products could be influential in developing a national labeling program.

“I can remember when the British retail federation got behind labeling there, that was when things really started to happen there,” said Ronnie Cummins, founder and national director of the Organic Consumers Association. “If Wal-Mart is at the table, that’s a big deal.”

Brands like Honest Tea, which is owned by Coca-Cola, have written to the association, which estimates 75 percent of grocery products contain a genetically modified ingredient, to protest its “Traitors Boycott,” which urges consumers not to buy products made by units of companies that fought Proposition 37. Consumers have peppered the companies’ Web sites, Facebook pages and Twitter streams with angry remarks.

Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream company, announced recently that it would remove all genetically modified ingredients from its products by the end of this year. Consumers had expressed outrage over the money its parent, Unilever, contributed to defeat the California measure.

The state Legislature in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s is based, is considering a law that would require labeling, as is the General Assembly in Connecticut. Legislators in New Mexico have proposed an amendment to the state’s food law that would require companies to label genetically modified products.

And this month, a senator in Missouri, home of Monsanto, one of the biggest producers of genetically modified seeds, proposed legislation that would require the labeling of genetically engineered meat and fish.

“I don’t want to hinder any producer of genetically modified goods,” the senator, Jamilah Nasheed, who represents St. Louis, said in a news release. “However, I strongly feel that people have the right to know what they are putting into their bodies.”

Observatory

Viagra as Diet Pill? One Day, Perhaps

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA

Published: January 28, 2013

New evidence suggests that the erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra might have another use: helping burn away excess fat.

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Chris Gash

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The drug, generically known as sildenafil, helped convert undesirable white fat cells to energy-burning beige fat cells in laboratory mice, researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany report in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

It was already known that mice fed Viagra became less prone to obesity when fed a high-fat diet. What was not clear was why.

Dr. Alexander Pfeifer, director of the university’s Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, said he already had some clues: Viagra works by preventing the degradation of the intercellular messenger cGMP. Dr. Pfeifer has long been testing the effects of cGMP on fat cells.

So he fed the drug to mice for seven days and monitored their fat cells. As it turned out, the troublesome white fat cells, which are associated with human problems like the dreaded spare tire, were being converted to the beneficial type of fat cells at a higher rate than usual. Dr. Pfeifer called the results “very promising.”

Still, he cautions against taking the drug purely for dieting purposes. “The idea to have one pill and then obesity goes away, that is a dream, but not easy to come by,” he said. “What we are up to is basic research in mice. This pill is approved by the F.D.A. for a particular purpose for a reason.” 

Grimsson: IMF learned new lessons in Iceland

EUROPE

Grimsson: IMF learned new lessons in Iceland

The global financial crisis brought Iceland to the brink of collapse in 2008. Since then, the country has recovered well by doing many things differently from the rest of the world, President Olafur Grimsson tells DW.

DW: A couple of years ago, Iceland was in a poor state economically - in some regards even worse off than Greece. Now, the country is in calmer waters again. How did you bring about the change?

Olafur Grimsson: Of course, there are many reasons, but there are perhaps two fundamental reasons why we're now back on the road to recovery, with economic growth and relatively low unemployment. The first dimension in our response was that we realized early on that this wasn't just a financial or economic crisis. It was also a profound political, social and even judicial crisis.

To galvanize the nation to go through times of hardship and difficulties there were a number of social and political reforms so that people would see that there was an attempt to let justice be done and to reform the decision-making mechanism. I think that in many other parts of Europe the crisis was long seen primarily as an economic and financial problem

The other dimension was that we didn't follow the traditional Western orthodoxies of how to deal with an economic crisis of this magnitude.

For example, you did not rescue any banks...

No, indeed not. We let the banks fail. They were private banks, and I've often asked the question why people consider them to be the holy churches of modern economy. Why are they different from telecommunications or railway companies or many other companies? Why shouldn't they be allowed to fail?

If you send a signal to the bankers that they can take all the risks they want to take, they will be rewarded financially in an extraordinary way. But if they fail, the bill will always be sent to taxpayers, ordinary people, fishermen, farmers, doctors, teachers, nurses and so on. But in addition we introduced currency control instruments. And we didn't introduce social austerity measures as demanded by leaders in many different parts of Europe for their own countries at the moment.

Three or four years ago, our policy measures were probably opposed by most established governmental or financial authorities in Europe. But the end result is that Iceland is now on the road to a much stronger recovery than any other European country that has faced a financial crisis in recent years.

Reykjavik was home to Iceland's three failed banks Kaupthing, Landsbanki und Glitnir

But Iceland stands out from the rest. The country is very small and can make decisions on its currency all on its own as it's not a eurozone member.

Well, of course it helped to be able to devaluate the krona. That was one of the important elements as well. But the others which I mentioned - trying to protect the welfare system, engaging people through socio-political reforms, letting the banks fail - they had nothing to do with having an independent currency. Those are all measures that could have been employed in the eurozone.

Do you think the German chancellor, the IMF chief and all other crisis managers should try and emulate Iceland?

To some extent it's correct that the Icelandic experience should be a wake-up call of sorts for others to reexamine their positions and the kind of orthodoxy which has prevailed in the past 30 years. But with respect to the IMF, it's an interesting story, because when they came to Iceland it was a challenge for them.

When the IMF program for Iceland was over about a year and a half ago, we staged a farewell conference. The high IMF officials were honest enough to recognize that they had learned a lot from the Icelandic experience. We're now going to examine and discuss the prevailing policy recommendations the IMF stuck to in the Asian financial crisis in the previous century. I think I can detect in some of the comments made by IMF chief Lagarde in recent months that she has a different perspective now than many other European leaders.

Do you believe German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has a different stance on the matter now?

I have always followed the principle of not making any direct comments on other countries, if only for the reason that I've heard so many people making comments on my country - people who were not really well-informed.

The only thing I can do is describe the Icelandic experience, the methods we've employed and challenges we've faced, and describe how we've recovered. And then other people will have to make their own judgment whether they want to learn from our experience. The small size of Iceland doesn't speak against it, I think.

Iceland is a highly developed Western country, with all the aspects of other European democracies and economies. Despite the smallness, it offers at least interesting test cases that people can use to review some of their prevailing policies which are pushing Europe into extraordinary difficulties.

Does Iceland aspire to join the European Union and the eurozone at all?

Of course, there's been a long-standing debate in my country about this. Most of the time, an overwhelming majority of citizens has been against joining the euro for the same reason that Norway voted twice to stay away, and Greenland decided to leave the European Union. There was a time when people thought it would have been easier, had they been part of the euro area. Now we know that's not the case.

If you look at the debates within Europe, or look at northern Europe, all the countries there, Greenland, Iceland, the UK, Norway, Denmark, Sweden - it's not until you come to Finland that you find a euro country. Quite clearly, the northern part of Europe has taken a different course, and most of them are actually better off than the rest of Europe.

Interview: Andreas Becker, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland / hg

海關官官官

日失竊國寶佛像 南韓海關當假貨

「金銅觀世音菩薩坐像」

「銅造如來立像」


日本兩尊國寶級佛像遭竊盜集團偷走後帶往南韓，不料釜山海關「有眼無珠」，竟然以為是仿冒品而放行，29日南韓警方破獲該竊盜集團，並起出這兩尊佛像，日本已要求南韓歸還。這兩尊佛像分別是長崎縣對馬市海神神社收藏的「銅造如來立像」，以及觀音寺的「金銅觀世音菩薩坐像」，均在去10月失竊，其中銅造如來立像為8世紀朝鮮半島新羅時期鑄造，已被日本指定為國家級文化財產，1974年鑑定價值超過1億圓（約3200萬台幣）。金銅觀世音菩薩坐像則為14世紀高麗時代鑄造，為長崎縣指定文化財產。（圖：取自網路／文：編譯林翠儀）




酒駕撞死 送報孝子// 可惡英商 偷護照落跑

印度裔英籍商人林克穎（前方，穿藍衣者）3年前開賓士車撞死送報生黃俊德，去年7月判刑4年定讞，膚色黝黑的林克穎8月即持英籍白人同事護照逃回倫敦。（資料照）

去年7月判刑4年 8月潛逃
〔記者林俊宏、張文川、楊國文、陳恩惠、項程鎮、姚介修、黃以敬／綜合報導〕印度裔英籍商人林克穎三年前酒後開賓士車撞死孝子送報生黃俊德案，去年七月他被判刑四年定讞；黝黑的林克穎被限制出境，卻持英籍白人同事DAVID的護照，八月從桃園機場堂皇登機飛回倫敦，把守國境大門的移民署官員「黑白不分」，辦案人員痛批「太瞎了！」
台北地檢署昨通緝林克穎，時效至一百廿年九月廿日。
黃俊德的父親黃國安昨獲悉此事，哽咽說，林嫌迄無道歉，如今又跑掉，一千萬元的民事求償也無門，「這款ㄟ政府實在太無能！要有人負責！」
白人DAVID（中文名：邱凱）的年紀、膚色、長相，和林克穎顯然不同，DAVID生於一九八○年，小林十歲，他原是林克穎經營恩禧公司員工，後來轉任英語補教老師，檢方昨拘提他時，他一臉無辜地說，不知護照被林偷走，去年耶誕節才發現護照遺失，到英國駐台文化辦事處補辦，移民署才察覺早被人冒用出境。
林克穎黝黑 持白人護照出關
檢方查出，林克穎去年八月八日購買單程機票，同月十四日上午持DAVID護照，搭長榮航空經曼谷班機飛抵倫敦，巧的是，同日下午DAVID向租屋處附近的吳興街派出所報案，指皮夾在住處失竊，卻未提及護照遺失；DAVID昨堅稱自己是被害人，檢方訊後將他責付移民署並限制出境、出海，將來恐驅逐出境。
放林出境的移民署國境事務大隊游姓男科員，檢方以證人身分約談，年逾四十歲的游男昨稱：「我的人臉辨識能力很薄弱」、「不認得林克穎，不知他撞死人」。
檢方調閱機場大廳監視器翻拍的六張照片，發現林克穎刻意剪平頭、穿長袖遮手臂膚色、臉部疑燈照因素致膚色略白，但五官輪廓和DAVID仍有差異，不排除林克穎以漂白美容術變裝闖關；因查無掩護林克穎偷渡事證，檢方將游男請回。
移民署私下說，經調查游姓移民官是疏忽所致，將記一大過，主管也連坐記過，並調離主管。
林克穎一審被判兩年半，高院合議庭認為他毫無悔意，去年七月依公共危險、過失致死及肇事逃逸等三罪，判處合併執行刑四年，但林克穎針對肇逃部份提起上訴，卻趁機逃亡。
被冒用者 曾任職林克穎公司
北檢在去年八月廿七日收卷，通知林在九月廿一日執行，林未到案，檢方簽拘票卻找不到他，沒收保釋金十五萬元，林的女友稱「很久沒和林聯絡」，檢方研判他已逃亡，去年底獲報有人冒用DAVID護照出境，比對照片後才知林已潛逃，將循司法互助途徑，請求英方協助。
專研國際法的文大法律系副教授許惠峰說，台灣和英國沒有司法互助協定，我方很難要求英國交出林克穎。
林克穎是否「漂白」闖關？知名整形醫師曾繁穎說，人類皮膚可採用打美白針、打雷射或Ａ酸等方法換膚、美白；若要使印度裔混血的淺棕色肌膚，變成像歐美白人的白色皮膚，視用法及藥劑，短則三個月到半年、長則一年就可能辦到，大概要花五、六十萬元。

Leica 百年傳奇/ 警察靠森林吃森林

莱卡相机 百年传奇

	百年经典，传奇故事，德国莱卡照相机曾经创造了摄影器材领域的神话，时至今日拥有一架莱卡相机仍然是很多摄影爱好者的梦想。

森林警察當山老鼠首腦 帶隊盜木

原住民森林警察、地區警察，背叛世代守護山林的誓言，不但沒有抓山老鼠，反帶山老鼠入山盜伐珍貴林木。（記者江志雄攝）

〔記者游明金、江志雄、楊宜敏、鍾麗華／綜合報導〕負責抓山老鼠的森林警察，居然組集團率山老鼠入山盜伐，嚴重違背天職；而涉案五警竟有四警是泰雅族原住民，背叛他們世代誓言守護的山林，難怪泰雅族人昨聞訊痛罵：「你們愧對祖靈！」
3森警2員警 4人是原民
這是台灣首宗森林警察及地區警察共同扮演山老鼠首腦案！
宜蘭地檢署查出，這幫不肖員警利用勤務掩護，率隊深入宜蘭大同鄉山區盜伐紅檜、扁柏等珍貴林木，還利用司法手段打壓其他山老鼠集團；檢調昨逮三名森林警察、兩名地區警員，其中森林警察隊羅東分隊警員蔡明壽（五十歲）、楊文發（四十一歲）、康林富（四十三歲），及蔡的胞弟、三星分局警員蔡明光（四十三歲），四劣警統御兩個山老鼠集團，蘇澳分局偵查佐石俊雄（四十五歲）則與另一集團合流；除康林富，另四警皆泰雅族！
去年四月，本報獨家披露「宜蘭南山神木盜伐案」，宜蘭地檢署據以偵辦，發現員警與山老鼠合流，監控八個月才揪出驚人真相。
查神木盜伐案 揪驚人內幕
檢方表示，蔡明壽結識廖姓、陳姓兩大山老鼠集團，竟利慾薰心，偕胞弟蔡明光帶隊盜伐，還洩漏森警隊的勤務；蔡氏兄弟與森警楊文發、康林富涉收賄，盜伐變賣的贓款都抽佣一至五％，每回能抽數萬元。
檢方監聽發現，蔡明壽會電詢：「今天誰的班？能進去嗎？」若康林富或楊文發回答：「今天是我的班，ＯＫ！」蔡明壽就當老鼠頭率隊盜伐；蘇澳分局偵查佐石俊雄則和朱男組山老鼠集團，石當首腦 ；這三大集團最後竟合流，還交流使用車輛與機具；一說「洗溫泉、打飛鼠」，就知要去盜伐了。
紅檜、扁柏漂流木，這一兩年價格飆高，過去一噸三至四萬元，今年漲到十萬元，還曾飆到十四萬至十五萬元。
去年八月蘇拉颱風後，大同鄉田古爾溪、石門溪一帶上游國有林班地，大批貴重檜木、扁柏被沖下山，山老鼠違法撿拾轉賣牟利，森警隊羅東分隊奉命出擊卻常無功而返。
洗溫泉、打飛鼠 盜木暗號
查緝人員當時察覺有異，特定執法警員查案途中常無故失蹤，或遲到一步；有時查緝小組稽查甲地，山老鼠竟知轉向乙地作案，巧妙避開，太過巧合，檢方佈線才追出駭人內幕。
檢調昨在宜蘭、新北市汐止、苗栗三義、南投集集等卅三處同步搜索，逮回五名不肖員警，並追出十一名山老鼠、 三名收贓業者，起出八十噸贓木，市價逾千萬元；查到三把獵槍、大批電鋸、對講機、衛星定位器。
宜蘭地檢署主任檢察官林宏松說，陳（槍砲前科）、廖、朱為首的三個山老鼠集團，涉案半年以上，竟無違反森林法紀錄，顯然全仗員警包庇。
林務局羅東林區管理處副處長張獻仁表示，目前全國有一七八位森林警察，除了總隊，設有八個分隊，均由警政署支援，從成員、分隊長到總隊長都是警政署選派，通常是由保一總隊支援；林務局長李桃生得知有森林警察涉案後很生氣，將跟警政署好好就此討論。

李寧頹勢 與中國名牌

 李宁再融资稀释股权
李宁公司的大投资者上周修改了他们一年前购买的可转换债券的条款，令小投资者感觉严重吃亏。
难怪这家中国运动服装集团上周五股价大跌15%。


 2012.12.20
生产严重过剩导致中国运动用品制造商面临困境。
最大的国产运动品牌"李宁"发出警告，2012年可能会出现重大亏损。由中国知名前体操运动员、奥运冠军得主李宁创建的这一公司将拿出高达2.88亿美元的资金来处理积压的库存。其它本土运动品牌也面临类似问题。耐克和阿迪达斯等国际品牌虽然也曾遭遇这一困境，但目前已经基本走出低谷。李宁公司表示，将从经销商那里回购积压库存和过季产品。在经历了2008年奥运会前后的迅速扩张之后，中国本土运动品行业面临困境，市场竞争激烈以及中国整体经济增长冷却是主要背景，此外很多消费者更偏向于选择耐克、阿迪达斯等国际知名品牌，并将其视为身份的象征。

對

中國人來說，購物仍是一種較陌生的消遣活動。幾百年來，儒家思想強調的是培養美德和倫理道德，而不是讓衣櫥裡的衣服更漂亮時髦。就在三四十年前，毛澤東領導下的共產黨政府還宣布私有財產為非法，不允許私人佔有任何物品。

Barron's Graphics

不 過時至今日，中國政府最希望看到的莫過於14億中國人瘋狂購物，直到他們拿不動為止，或者說至少到中國經濟有起色為止。過去10年中，中國國內生產總值 (GDP)增長了兩倍，政府如今卻宣布中國嚴重依賴出口和投資推動經濟增長的做法“不穩定、不平衡、不可持續”。中國上周五公布的令人失望的貿易數據只是 証明這一說法的最新証據而已。私人消費去年佔中國GDP的比重僅為35%，較2000年的46%有所下滑。隨著歐洲人和美國人不再瘋狂搶購中國工廠生產出 來的產品，擴大國內支出就變得越發緊迫。中共領導的政府釋放出的一個不同尋常的信息是：物質主義是新的愛國主義。

隨著中國試圖提振消費在促進經濟增長中的作用，《巴倫周刊》(Barron's)決定帶各位瀏覽一下中國國內10大上市品牌。不過別誤會，眼下很多在中國受到歡迎的品牌依舊是國外品牌。通用汽車公司(General Motors GM -0.34% )在華銷量超過美國；擁擠的蘋果(Apple AAPL +1.34% )專賣店所需的保安數量足以和U2樂隊在麥迪遜花園廣場(Madison Square Garden)演唱會所需的警力相比；可口可樂(Coca-Cola KO -0.24% ) 在中國受到的歡迎和在全球任何一個地方沒有什麼不同。但隨著中國消費階級不斷壯大，受益最大的還將是中國本土品牌。相應地，這些企業的股價也應該會隨著時 間推移而上漲。別忘了，可口可樂公司的股價在大約40年的時間裡漲了7,000%，蘋果公司的股價在20年時間裡漲了5,000%。

按中短期估值方法衡量，我們挑選的部分中國公司的股價並不便宜。對少數幾家公司來說，它們的近期前景也不能算是樂觀。我們名單上的部分公司身上具有新興市場國家企業的一般特征。比如，聯想(Lenovo)是中國最大的計算機制造商，百度(Baidu BIDU -0.21% )可基本算作是中國的谷歌(Google GOOG +2.81% )。其它一些入選企業則是中國這個人口最稠密的國家所獨有的：茅台釀制的一種高度白酒早在17世紀的清朝就開始大批量生產，如今茅台已成為中國人在特殊場合下舉杯歡慶的首選。生產傳統中藥的雲南白藥(Yunnan Baiyao)則正在向從牙膏到茶葉等所有產品領域進軍。

相關報導

中國品牌名不走尋常路
國內知名國外無聞的中國品牌
中國人到底想要什麼
報告：中國國企品牌資產走下坡路

可 以說，沒有任何時機比眼下更適合中國消費者大舉消費了。中國經濟增速已放緩至接近7.6%的三年來最低水平，但與此同時卻受到零售業銷售同比增長13%的 強力支撐。雖然中國經濟規模已躍至世界第二位，但人均收入排名在世界上僅為第92位。北京目前迫切需要提高國民收入，增加居民的消費開支，這不僅是要實現 經濟再平衡，也是為了安撫民眾，避免社會動盪。為鼓勵人們增加消費，減少以備不時之需的儲蓄，北京方面正在擴大其養老計劃覆蓋面，爭取將參保者從眼下的 2.5億增至2015年的3.5億。預計中國政府還將出台進一步稅改和消費補貼政策。景順(Invesco)駐香港投資總監鄧偉基(Joseph Tang)說，我們預計中國將加快改善社會福利、養老、教育、醫療和個人貸款等領域，這是其長遠議程的一部分。鄧偉基認為，未來幾年，中國民眾自主支配的 支出增速將超過GDP增速。

中國正在堅持不懈地推進城市化，這會讓更多中國人打開錢袋。麥肯錫(McKinsey)發布的一份報告說，到 2020年將有約8.5億中國人生活在城市地區，高於2010年的6.5億。屆時，每五位城市居住者當中將有一位是移居城市的第一代農民工，迎合這股城市 化浪潮的商品品種也會讓品牌選擇成為更重要的個人宣言。從上海到深圳，你穿什麼衣服、在什麼地方逛街以及你開什麼車都會成為你的形象“代言”。

在 某些領域，中國要想出一家拔尖的企業還需要時間。比方說，我們的名單中缺少中國本土奢侈品牌，因為大多數中國品牌還不足以讓潮人放棄香奈兒 (Chanel)、愛馬仕(Hermes)和古馳(Gucci)等海外大牌。女性時裝也同樣被大路化了，幾乎不存在顧客忠誠度。國內食品品牌也在飛速發 展，但同時它們也會受到從三聚氰胺奶粉到因用膨大劑發生西瓜“爆炸”等食品安全隱患的影響。另外，就在中國人開始熱衷於外出旅行之際，中國三大航空公司卻 在除服務惡劣和味同嚼蠟的航空餐之外，並沒有形成太大的名氣。

即便如此，我們還是在大部分領域中找到了我們的“寵兒”。以下是我們精選出來的中國10大品牌（按字母順序排列）：

百度

這 個在中國佔主導地位的互聯網搜索引擎控制著中國40億美元搜索市場的79%。“百度”一詞取自宋詞“眾裡尋他千百度”。2010年，谷歌因審查問題與北京 發生口角，撤出了中國內地，百度因此受益。但研究全球品牌的明略行(Millward Brown)指出，百度的人氣還得益於該公司對中文和中華文化精妙之處的深刻理解。鍵入中文搜索詞和鍵入英文搜索詞是不一樣的。百度能把握亞洲語言在搜索 請求方面的細微差別，這也解釋了為什麼它發布了一個日文搜索引擎，這是百度首次在中國海外推出搜索引擎。

百度的下一個挑戰：壟斷那個更新、增長更快的移動搜索市場。眼下，百度在這個市場上的份額略低於50%。因此，百度目前的預期市盈率為更具吸引力的27.7倍，遠低於2005年登陸美國納斯達克(Nasdaq)以來54倍的預期市盈率中值。

中國移動(China Mobile HK:941 +1.21% )

中 國移動目前擁有逾6.83億客戶以及全球規模最大的通信網絡。2008年北京舉辦夏季奧運會時，中國移動在珠穆朗瑪峰海拔21,325英尺（約6,500 米）建立了無線通信基站，從而在奧運火炬傳遞過程中實現了信號從珠峰極頂到北京的覆蓋。中國移動市值2,330億美元，規模居亞洲第二。不過，這是一只處 於十字路口的巨獸。中國移動的第三代網絡基於僅在中國內地使用的標準，所以目前還不支持蘋果iPhone等競爭對手所運營的熱門智能手機。中國移動的用戶 增長步伐正在放緩，而移動設備搭載的新軟件正在飛快地改變者人們的交流方式。

盡管如此，中國移動仍擁有龐大的“戰備基金”（其中包括 480億美元現金），而且它正在開發速度更快的第四代網絡。在美國人眼裡，通信服務商是他們不得不忍受的討厭家伙，但在新聞為國家所控、信息較匱乏的中 國，民眾對手機的依戀度超過美國人。而且就目前而言，中國手機用戶無法不改電話號碼的情況下輕易更改通信服務商，這一點有助於中國移動留住客戶。

2011 年底，中國移動迎來了對沖基金管理公司AQR Capital Management的阿斯尼斯(Cliff Asness)和Dreman Value Management的德雷曼(David Dreman)等受人尊敬的價值投資者。中國移動目前的市盈率約為12倍，與2011年底相比並無太大變化。

Great Wall SUV: Nelson Ching / Bloomberg News; Li Ning: Trevor Jones / Getty Images; Moutai: Imagechina / Corbis

品牌：（從左開始順時針方向）青島啤酒、長程汽車、李寧和茅台。

長城汽車(Great Wall Motor CN:601633 +0.25% )

如 果可能，很多中國人都寧願開奧迪(Audis)、寶馬(BMWs)或奔馳(Mercedes-Benzes)，但中國城鎮人口中只有2%的人家庭可支配年 收入超過3.4萬美元。家庭可支配年收入在6,000美元至1.6萬美元之間、佔城鎮人口比重的82%的那些人更在乎性價比。

在中國本土 汽車制造商中，吉利(Geely)的品牌識別度可能更高，因為該公司生產的是乘用車，包括可愛的兩廂車“熊貓”。不過，長城汽車是中國領先的運動型多用途 車(SUV)和卡車制造商，擁有性價比標桿的口碑。上海華禾投資(CSV Capital Partners)常務董事顏慶華(Earl Yen)說，實際上我覺得長城汽車對SUV和卡車的質量認知度要好於吉利對汽車的質量認知度。

長城汽車上半年的業績超出預期，銷售額增加 了29%，利潤大漲了30%。高利潤率的SUV推動了銷售額的41%，高於上年同期的33%。按照國際標準來看，中國私家車擁有率仍偏低，每17個人才擁 有一輛車。長城汽車對東南亞和中東的出口正在增加。難怪長城汽車的股票今年上漲了49%，遠高於其它在香港上市的中國內地汽車公司。

海爾

作為一個家喻戶曉的名字，海爾有點神秘。海爾集團(Haier Group CN:600690 -1.30% ) 是世界上最大的家電品牌，在全球白色家電市場佔8%的市場份額。其在香港上市的子公司海爾電器集團有限公司(Haier Electronics Group Co.)是中國最大的洗衣機和熱水器制造商，而在上海上市的青島海爾股份有限公司(Qingdao Haier)主要生產空調和電冰箱。不過分析人士無法確定這家國家控股、員工集體所有的母公司的價值（員工得不到分紅，也不知道他們到底擁有多少公司資 產）。

即便如此，海爾的基礎在於它的產品范圍──從機器人到大型酒櫃幾乎無所不有，以及貼心的售後服務。海爾的名稱來自於早期的德國合作 伙伴利勃海爾(Liebherr Group)。從東南亞到南卡羅萊納州都有海爾的工廠。在中國內地的小型城市和農村地區，超過7,000家門店組成的網絡銷售著海爾和第三方的家電產品。 海爾管理人員曾夸下海口，海爾能在24小時之內將商品送達200公裡以內的任何地點。

這樣的的聲譽推高了海爾股價。比如，海爾電器2012的市盈率為10.6倍，超過了同類企業的7.7倍。不過，政府為居民購買家電提供補貼的“家電下鄉”計劃將在2013年1月到期，可能會導致銷售集中在2012年。房地產市場的低迷同樣也是一個隱患。

聯想

2012 年的某個時候，聯想應該會超過惠普(Hewlett-Packard)，成為世界上最大的個人電腦生產商。這家北京的公司2005年收購了IBM的 ThinkPad業務。中國售出的個人電腦中，有三分之一來自聯想，聯想在全球個人電腦市場中的份額從2011年的10%上升到了14%。聯想300億美 元的年度營收中，有93%來自電腦，這個比例令人咂舌，但是聯想也正在開始生產其他產品。

未來會成為“老大”的聯想2013年預期市盈率為14倍，同業公司的市盈率僅為9到10倍。但今年5月初以來，聯想股價大跌了20%，原因是中國人對個人電腦需求的同比增長從兩位數放緩到了5%。

不 過，隨著中國寬帶服務的日漸普及，價格也更能為大眾所接受，以及個人電腦制造商不斷推出新產品，預計聯想在2013年將打個翻身仗。中國的互聯網普及率 （衡量計算機使用程度的一個指標）仍偏低，在36%左右。相比之下，美國的互聯網普及率接近80%。聯想這個人們耳熟能詳的名字會讓它在贏得農村新客戶方 面具有優勢。

李寧

1984年，中國第一次參加奧運會時，成百上千萬中國人在電視機上看到了體操運動員李寧 獲得了包括三枚金牌在內的共六枚獎牌，李寧隨之成為了中國獲譽最多的運動員。這位“體操王子”乘勢而上做起了生意，如今李寧已成為中國國內認知度第二高的 體育運動品牌，僅次於耐克(Nike)。

不過，這個備受尊敬的品牌目前處於走下領獎台的危險之中。2008年北京奧運會（李寧品牌的創始 人李寧在開幕式上飛天點燃奧運聖火）後，李寧公司曾一度擴張過度。2008年，該公司淨收入激增了52%，但到2011年，由於中國消費者轉向更便宜的西 方品牌，李寧公司積壓了大量庫存。去年，李寧公司的利潤大跌了65%，其香港上市股票價格目前為4.68港元，低於2010年年中的31港元。

管 理層的任務是，要以更快的速度、更低的價格將自己生產的運動服裝和體育器材推向市場，從擁擠的休閑服細分市場掉頭，向利潤率更高、用更先進材料制成的“高 性能裝備”前進，並且要吸引年輕人。李寧現在是CBA的讚助商，正在利用私募股權公司TPG的資金進行公司整改。摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)分析師Robert Lin說，李寧的利潤預期仍較高，但該公司有著強大的品牌資產，預計長期收益和利潤率將實現大幅增長。

茅台

1951 年，中國地方國營茅台酒廠正式成立。擁有數百年歷史的茅台酒由高粱發酵而成，是一種清澈透明、微帶黃色的白酒。在一聲聲的“幹杯”中，大量茅台酒流進了人 們的胃裡。那種令人眩暈的酒精度數（最高53度，而紅酒一般在12度左右）會讓你忘了它的醬香味道。難怪基辛格(Henry Kissinger)有一次對鄧小平說，我認為只要喝了足夠的茅台，任何問題都能解決。

茅台酒的生產商、中國國有白酒巨頭貴州茅台2011年利潤大漲74%，至14億美元，收入增加了58%。有人擔心，北京鏟除腐敗與收緊招待預算的舉措可能會打壓貴州茅台迅猛的銷售勢頭。

貴 州茅台目前正在設立更多自營店，以更好地控制分銷渠道，打擊假冒偽劣。在上海上市的貴州茅台目前其股價接近歷史最高位，2012年預期市盈率為19倍，高 於洋酒公司帝亞吉歐(Diageo)的18.6倍，也高於全球酒業公司約16倍的預期市盈率。盡管如此，瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)仍說，把茅台放在架子最高一層是值得的，它是中國白酒的首選。

騰訊(Tencent HK:700 +0.26% )

羽毛球衛冕冠軍於洋因消極比賽被剝奪倫敦奧運會比賽資格後，她以一種在當今中國社會流行的方式結束了自己的運動生涯。於洋在騰訊微博上宣布了自己的退役消息：再見我摯愛的羽毛球。

在 中國這個新聞被審查、大型集會需報批的國家，中國最大也最多元化的互聯網公司騰訊已經成了中國人的公共廣場。騰訊擁有世界上最大的客戶群：即時通訊服務的 注冊用戶達7.21億，社交網絡用戶達5.52億，像於洋這樣的微博用戶達3.73億。由於近72%的收入都來自一個互聯網服務部門（該部門主由一個日漸 成熟的在線遊戲平台構成），因此騰訊進入了其他領域，如快速增長的電子商務領域、在線廣告領域，並通過提供手機鈴聲和短信服務等方式進入移動服務領域。

景 順的鄧偉基說，在利用用戶群賺錢方面，騰訊是到目前為止最成功的企業。去年，騰訊的收入增長了45%，至45億美元，同時運營利潤增長了25%。今年，騰 訊股票大漲了54%，該公司2012年的預期市盈率為27倍，並不便宜，相比之下全球互聯網公司2012年的預期市盈率只有16倍，谷歌2012年的預期 市盈率只有15倍。不過這也表明市場對騰訊懷有信心，相信它會在中國日益成熟的互聯網熱潮中處於領先位置。

青島啤酒

一 個普通中國人的啤酒消費量不到美國人的一半，是德國人啤酒消費量的三分之一。不過，龐大的人口使中國成為遙遙領先的全球最大啤酒市場。華潤創業有限公司 (China Resources Enterprise)通過銷售低檔啤酒可能佔有22%的市場份額，但品牌歷史更悠久、更知名、在增長更快的高端市場擁有令人艷羨優勢的公司卻是市場份額 （14%）排在第二的青島啤酒。。

青島啤酒是擁有德國血統的中國品牌。該品牌1903年由英德移民創立，據說在當時，青島啤酒是用嶗山的礦泉水嚴格按照德國標準釀造出來的。即使在今天，青島啤酒仍然以暢快清爽的口感著稱。

去 年，中國的啤酒消費量增長5%，而青島啤酒的銷量增長13%，利潤增長了14%。谷物的成本是一個需要考慮的問題，但是釀造者可以提高價格，目前中國啤酒 平均銷售價格大約為每升0.8美元，與全球平均價格2.20美元相比仍較低。難怪日本的啤酒廠商紛踏而至，朝日啤酒(Asahi)擁有青島啤酒20%的股 份，三得利控股公司(Suntory Holdings Ltd.)正在與青島啤酒成立合資公司。青島啤酒在香港股市的市盈率為25倍。

雲南白藥

傳說雲南白藥是1902年一名男子訪遍農村，研究大量草藥研制而成的。在中國的抗日戰爭期間，這種用人參以及其他收斂性的根莖制作的白色粉末被廣泛用於止血。雲南白藥的字面意思就是來自雲南的白色藥物。在他去世後，他的遺孀將秘方交給了政府。

但是，在21世紀如何銷售傳統中藥？這家國有公司開始嘗試制作膠囊、創可貼、潤膚霜和飲料。經過五年的努力，雲南白藥在中國的牙膏市場擁有了10%的份額，目前正在瞄準更大的洗發水和藥妝領域。

從 2006年到2011年，雲南白藥的銷售額增長了兩倍，達到18億美元，同時利潤增長了三倍。原材料價格的上漲值得警惕，隨著雲南白藥進入競爭激烈的護發 用品市場，利潤率也可能下降。但是，摩根士丹利預計，2012年雲南白藥的營收將增長14%，利潤增長24%。雲南白藥的市盈率為28倍，反應了最近不錯 的業績。

盡管外界對上述公司的期望值很高，但是作為大品牌，它們也必須承受壓力。

KOPIN TAN

（本文譯自《巴倫周刊》）





我10年前注意這家公司 當時中國的運動鞋已經競爭激烈
後來知道其股東大多是新加坡資金......

為挽頹勢 李寧親上陣

NEIL GOUGH 報道 2012年07月11日

Shaun Best/Reuters

李寧在2008北京夏季運動會上點燃火炬。李寧建立了一家同名服裝公司。

香港——隨着中國消費者捂緊自己的錢包，李寧公司銷售和盈利下降，要讓這家運動服裝公司擺脫困境，似乎像奧運會比賽一樣難。
至少，扭轉乾坤肯定是李寧公司所期盼的，該公司是耐克(Nike)和阿迪達斯(Adidas)等西方巨擘的中國競爭對手。

按圖放大

Nelson Ching/Bloomberg News

北京街道上的李寧運動鞋。

這家運動鞋和服裝零售商上周四表示，其創始人和主席、現年49歲的前奧運金牌得主李寧將擴大職責範圍，此前公司行政總裁卸任。
在1984年洛杉磯奧運會上，李寧作為體操運動員贏得6枚獎牌，那是1952年後中國首次參加夏季奧運會。近年，李寧在國外最為人所知的，也許是作為2008年夏季奧運會的主火炬手，在開幕式上以“飛天”之姿在圍繞北京國家體育場一圈的祥雲畫卷上奔跑，最後點燃主火炬。
如今，李寧肩負着以另一種高難度動作傳遞火種的任務。上周四，他的公司“李寧”在宣布其22年歷史上最大規模的管理層變動之時表示，將啟動一個為期 三年的“變革藍圖”，以削減成本、逆轉利潤下滑的局面、減少庫存積壓，以及鞏固其在中國運動服裝市場的老大地位。今年早些時候，李寧公司引入私人股本公司 德州太平洋集團(TPG Capital)的投資，IPG目前在李寧公司持有可觀股份。
李寧在一份聲明中表示：“我們致力把李寧品牌打造成世界級品牌，一個在本質上忠於體育價值和體育內涵的品牌。”他說，公司行政總裁張志勇的卸任，以 及開始轉變公司的行動，是在“評估公司現時的業務狀況後，包括我們所面對的內部和外部挑戰，以及考慮到公司未來中至長期的展望”後做出的決定。
近期，亞太地區的其他服裝企業也陷入困境。6月25日，澳大利亞衝浪運動服裝公司貝納幫國際(Billabong International) 宣布以超低折扣價甩賣庫存貨品，以籌措資金。自那以來，該公司股價已下跌29%。
貝納幫換掉了首席執行官，但自2月份公司創始人和控股股東戈登·莫真特(Gordon Merchant)拒絕TPG發出的收購邀約以來，其銷售業績不斷下滑。TPG對貝納幫的估值為8.41億澳元（合8.65億美元），是該公司目前市值的三倍多。
時尚服裝公司埃斯普利特(Esprit)和李寧公司一樣在香港上市，上月其行政總裁和主席在24小時內相繼宣布卸任。該公司近期艱難應對歐洲的經濟低迷（歐洲占其銷售額逾四分之三）。Esprit還致力於重塑其在去年承認“失去靈魂”的品牌。
但是，儘管李寧公司面對的一些問題在全球業內都多多少少存在（疲軟的海外需求、消費者不穩定的品牌忠誠度），但分析師們表示，李寧公司必須對付的最大問題是中國市場所特有的。
近年來13億中國人日益富裕，推動着多種產品的消費增長，包括汽車、奢侈手袋、冰箱和運動服裝。但分析師們指出，對市場份額的爭奪和經銷網絡的快速擴張，也造成了專業零售商之間的激烈競爭。
特別是，在北京奧運會之後的幾年中，中國的本土運動服裝公司飛速擴張。
李寧的本土競爭對手包括361度、安踏體育、中國動向、匹克體育和特步國際。2008年底，這六家公司總共在中國有31010家零售店。三年後，也就是2011年底，這六家公司的零售店增加到42235家，新增逾11000家。
分析師們表示，這造成該行業嚴重過度飽和：品牌太多，經銷點太多。這迫使企業競相迎合消費者需求，這種需求儘管也在增長，但未能趕上供應增長步伐。
摩根大通(J.P. Morgan)在香港的分析師今年在一份研究報告中論述中國市場的品牌時寫道：“和其他市場明顯不同的是，中國是唯一在十大服裝品牌中有五個本土運動服裝品牌的國家。”
這些分析師指出，運動服裝行業面臨著眾多威脅，包括成本不斷上升、與綜合時裝品牌爭奪消費者支出的角逐不斷升溫，以及耐克等外國競爭對手對中國內陸城市的積極滲透。耐克最近表示，在截止5月的一年裡，耐克在大中華區（包括台灣、香港）的營收增長23%，至25.4億美元。
李寧公司迄今在應對這些壓力上力不從心。
去年，李寧的銷售額和凈利潤雙雙下降，這是至少10年來的首次；該公司最早公布財務報表是在2001年。營收跌至89.3億元人民幣（合14億美元），比2010年低了6%。利潤暴跌65%，至3.588億元人民幣。
李寧公司的股價在上個月跌破5港元（64美分）水平，這是7年來的首次，還不到2010年每股30.15港元最高價的六分之一。
除了行業特定的挑戰外，李寧及其競爭對手還受到投資者對中國經濟擴張放緩的全局性擔憂的打擊。
中國今年5月的零售銷售總額同比增長13.8%。剔除被農曆新年因素扭曲的1月和2月數據後，5月的數據代表了自2006年以來最疲弱的月度同比零售銷售增長。
雖然近月來北京的政策制定者們逆轉了了經濟收緊措施以刺激增長，但分析師們稱，他們相信中國經濟今年可能增長大約8%，這將是1999年以來最緩慢的年度增長。

Bettina Wassener 協助報道。
翻譯：柳沉，陶夢縈




2011


AWSJ 昨天有一篇關於Nike 公司目前中國市場年收入40億美金 必須改變中國人的運動參與觀.....

李寧公司主要的股東是新加坡人


----FT
李寧在走下坡路？Sportswear brand hits bamboo ceiling英國《金融時報》 帕提•沃德米爾上海報導
In the latest rankings of the richest people in China, Li Ning – founder of one of the country's most famous retail brands – has tumbled from 64 last year to 291.
在最新的中國富人排行榜上，創立了中國最著名零售品牌的李寧，名次從去年的第64位跌到了第291位。The decline in fortune mirrors that of the Olympic gymnast's eponymous brand, which last year had overtaken Adidas for second place in the Chinese sportswear market.
李寧財富排名下降，也反映出這位體操奧運冠軍同名品牌排名的下滑。去年，李寧在中國運動品牌市場上取代阿迪達斯(Adidas)，躍居第二。At that time, the chief executive was predicting it would be a top-five global sportswear brand by the end of the decade.
當時，作為首席執行官的李寧預言，不出十年，李寧將成為全球五大運動品牌之一。But Li Ning has since seen its profits and share price plunge and is rethinking its ambitious branding strategy.
但自那之後，李寧公司的利潤和股價就開始大幅下滑，該公司也開始重新思考其雄心勃勃的品牌戰略。Is this a temporary setback, or is there a bamboo ceiling that stops Chinese brands from becoming truly competitive even in their own market? The question is whether Chinese companies are strong enough in branding, marketing, innovation, design and quality to become something more than just copycats.
這是暫時的挫敗，還是不可逾越的“竹子天花板”（指美國大企業里亞裔面臨的難以進入最高管理層的情況——譯者註）？難道即便是在竹子的故鄉，中國品牌也無法真正稱雄？問題的關鍵在於：中國公司能否在品牌、營銷、創新、設計和質量方面做得足夠好，擺脫一味的“山寨”。With so few successful Chinese brands in the global marketplace, the trials and tribulations of Li Ning can be seen as a proxy for the fortunes of brand China.
在全球市場上，成功的中國品牌難覓影踪。我們不妨將李寧品牌的種種嘗試和遭際，視作中國品牌命運的一個縮影。The founder, who lit the flame at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is not only one of China's top athletes but also among its most renowned entrepreneurs. His appearance at the Bird's Nest stadium – which instantly linked the powerful nationalism of the event with his brand – must rank as one of the marketing coups of the decade.
在2008年北京奧運會上，李寧品牌的創始人點燃了開幕式的火炬。他不僅是中國最頂尖的運動員，也是中國最著名的企業家之一。李寧在鳥巢體育場點燃火炬的那一幕——讓人立刻將那次盛會所喚起的強大的愛國主義精神與李寧品牌聯繫在一起——絕對可以稱作十年來最偉大的一次營銷活動。But those days seem long gone: Li Ning's net profits fell 50 per cent in the first half year-on-year, and its share price has fallen 57 per cent since the beginning of the year.
但那些日子似乎早已遠去：今年上半年，李寧公司淨利潤同比下降50%，今年年初以來，其股價已累計下跌57%。Last year Li Ning unveiled a new logo (which, like its original one, bears a resemblance to the Nike swoosh), and a plan to reposition the brand as a near-direct competitor with global brands such as Nike and Adidas.
去年，李寧公司發布了新標識（如老標識一樣，新標識也與耐克(Nike)的彎鉤標有些類似）。李寧還推出了一項品牌重塑計劃，欲將自己打造成耐克和阿迪達斯等全球品牌的直接競爭者。But with many consumers unwilling to follow a local brand upmarket, Li Ning appears to be returning to its cheap-and-cheerful roots.
但對於這種高端本土品牌，許多消費者並不買賬，於是李寧似乎又走回了物美價廉的老路。It still holds a slight advantage over Adidas in the China market led by Nike, but market analysts expect it to slip back to third place soon. Chinese customers in general do not want to spend extra for a domestic brand if they can afford a foreign one .
在中國市場上，李寧仍稍微領先於阿迪達斯，僅次於耐克，但市場分析人士預計，它將很快跌回第三名。如果買得起外國品牌的東西，中國消費者大多不願意花差不多的價錢去購買國內品牌的商品。“Li Ning has done really well to challenge Adidas, but it has done it by copying the model,” says Andy Edwards, head of planning at BBH, the advertising agency, in Shanghai.
廣告公司百比赫(BBH)策劃總監安迪•愛德華茲(Andy Edwards)在上海接受采訪時表示：“在與阿迪的競爭中，李寧確實做得不錯，但它靠的是模仿。”“Now Li Ning needs to build greater value, stop copying and find its own unique voice . . . and drive this through everything the brand does, especially the product.”
“如今李寧需要創造更大的價值，停止抄襲，找到自己獨特的聲音……並讓這種聲音貫穿一切與品牌相關的東西，特別是產品。”Shau ​​n Rein, author of a forthcoming book, The End of Cheap China, says Chinese companies are trying to build brands “but for every two steps forward there is one step back”.
即將出版的《中國廉價消費的終結》一書作者雷小山(Shaun Rein)表示，中國企業在嘗試構建品牌，“但它們每前進兩步，就會後退一步”。Three years ago, when Li Ning was a rapidly growing force, its “brand positioning wasn't strategic enough”, he says. “They went from saying we are the best Chinese brand, to saying we are going to take on Nike globally, to going back to cheap again, over a three-year period. They didn't keep consistency in their image.”
雷小山表示，3年前，當李寧正在迅速成長時，它的“品牌定位不夠策略”。 “它先是提出要做中國最好的品牌，之後表示要在全球範圍內挑戰耐克，最後又走回到了廉價路線，這​​一切都發生在3年之間。它沒有保持自身品牌形象的連貫性”。Zhang Zhiyong, chief executive, admitted in a recent interview with the Beijing News that Li Ning had lost loyal customers when it raised prices.
在最近接受新京報(Beijing News)採訪時，李寧首席執行官張志勇坦承，提價讓李寧失去了一些忠實顧客。“I think we have to learn how to balance the price-driven and the quality-driven,” he said.
張志勇表示：“我認為，我們必須學會如何在以價格驅動和以質量驅動之間找到平衡。”At a Li Ning outlet in the Shanghai suburb of Hongkou, salesman Dai Quangang says his store no longer carries the high-end products. “This is a residential area and laobaixing [ordinary folks] prefer lower-priced products,” he says.
在上海虹口郊區的李寧折扣店，銷售人員戴權剛（音譯）表示，店裡已不再進那些高端貨品。 “這一帶是居民區，老百姓更喜歡便宜一些的商品。”The shop now stocks athletic shoes priced from Rmb339 to Rmb569 ($53-$90), compared with the Rmb580-Rmb1,180 shoes at the Adidas shop across the street.
如今這家店庫存的運動鞋標價從人民幣339元至569元（合53至90美元）不等，而在馬路對面的阿迪達斯專賣店，運動鞋的標價則在580元至1180元之間。Meanwhile, Adidas is expanding aggressively into Li Ning territory in smaller Chinese cities and aims to boost its presence from 550 to 1,000 cities by 2015.
與此同時，阿迪達斯正大舉進軍李寧的地盤——中小城市，目標是到2015年，讓自己的銷售網點覆蓋550個至1000個城市。Colin Currie, Adidas head for greater China, says that, even in poorer cities, consumers are eager to trade up to foreign brands as their income rises.
阿迪達斯大中華區負責人高嘉禮(Colin Currie)表示，即便是在不那麼富裕的城市，隨著收入的增長，消費者也渴望提升消費檔次，購買外國品牌的商品。HSBC forecasts that local brands will lose market share in the coming year as wage rises pick up pace.
匯豐(HSBC)預測，明年隨著工資增速加快，一些本土品牌的市場份額將會下降。“Chinese consumers tend to have low brand loyalty, especially in the lower-tier cities,” HSBC said in a recent report. “As Nike and Adidas are introducing lower-priced products, it comes into question whether the fans of domestic brands will continue to maintain their loyalty.”
“中國消費者的品牌忠誠度往往不高，特別是在一些二三線城市。”匯豐在最近的一份報告中指出，“隨著耐克和阿迪達斯紛紛推出各種低價款，本土品牌的擁躉能否保持忠誠度，也成為了一個未知數。”Li Ning is predicting two or three years of “short-term pain” as it moves to “better adapt to, and even lead, the long-term development of the sporting goods industry in China”.
隨著李寧開始“更好地適應、甚至引領中國運動品行業的長期發展趨勢”，它預計自己將面臨兩到三年的“短痛”。Those who track the progress of brand China will be watching to see if the company can break the bamboo ceiling once and for all.
那些關注中國品牌發展的人將拭目以待，看李寧究竟能否一勞永逸地衝破這層“竹子天花板”。Additional reporting by Shirley Chen
Shirley Chen補充報導
譯者/何黎




2008年10月03日09:34
The Chinese ex-gymnast defied gravity when he ran around the roof of Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium to light the Olympic flame two months ago.But Hong Kong-listed shares of his eponymous $1.8 billion sportswear-manufacturing firm have proved less inclined to fly.

They're down 26% since Aug. 11, the first trading day after the opening ceremony, and have more than halved in price this year, while the broader market has lost a third of its value.Li Ning's fundamentals in the run-up to the Olympics looked good: Net profit rose 68% year to year in the six months ended June. And surveys show that brand awareness of Li Ning grew strongly in China after its chairman's Olympic appearance.Post-Olympics, the company's prospects look frayed. Its chief financial officer quit last month, and inventories are said to be piling up at distributors.

More broadly, there is growing investor doubt Li Ning can translate its positive publicity into rapid growth in China or overseas expansion.That speaks to a wider problem for China's growing consumer companies, which in the past have failed to extract full profit potential from products.


Despite China's remarkable economic growth, it's hard to think of an international Chinese consumer-goods brand, perhaps other than white-goods manufacturer Haier. The answer may be to buy in the requisite marketing savvy or link up with a leading foreign company, as juice maker China Huiyuan wants to do with Coca-Cola.Meanwhile, Western brands such as Nike and Adidas are making a big push in China. Even if Li Ning can achieve a price advantage, the foreign firms' bold marketing expertise could help them make up ground.

股聞天下
李寧跌回地球
英 大 中 小2008年10月03日09:34
兩 個月前﹐中國前體操運動員李寧挑戰地球引力﹐在北京“鳥巢”上空“飛天”點燃奧運主火炬。不過事實表明﹐市值18億美元的香港上市公司李寧有限公司(Li Ning Co.)股票飛升的可能性要小的多。自8月11日﹐也就是奧運開幕式後的第一個交易日以來﹐該股已經累計下跌了26%﹐較年初更是跌了一半有餘﹐而同期整 個股票市場市值蒸發了三分之一。

Getty Images
在北京奧運會開幕式上﹐李寧在“鳥巢”上空 “飛天”點燃奧運主火炬。奧運會之前﹐李寧公司的基本面看起來良好：截至6月份的上半年該公司淨利潤較去年同期增長了68%。調查也顯示﹐李寧公司董事長 亮相奧運開幕式後﹐該公司的品牌認知度在國內大幅提升。不過奧運會之後﹐該公司的前景看起來卻令人頗感不安。李寧公司的首席財務長上個月辭職﹐據說各分銷 商的產品庫存也堆積如山。而且﹐投資者也越來越懷疑李寧公司是否能將正面宣傳轉化為國內的強勁增長或海外業務的擴張。這也體現了中國不斷增長的消費品企業 普遍存在的一個問題﹐這些公司過去沒能充分挖掘產品盈利的潛力。儘管中國經濟增長令人矚目﹐但是很難讓人想起一個世界性的中國消費品品牌﹐或許只有家用電 器製造商海爾集團除外。解決這個問題的可能方法是引入必需的營銷知識﹐或是和一家領先的國際公司合作﹐就象果汁生產商中國匯源果汁集團有限公司想與可口可 樂(Coca-Cola)聯手一樣。與此同時﹐耐克(Nike)和阿迪達斯(Adidas)等西方品牌也都在增強進軍中國的力度。即使李寧能夠取得價格優 勢﹐外國企業大膽的營銷技巧也可能幫助其縮小差距。Andrew Peaple

Li Ning's Olympic Deal Hits Hurdle 漢 | 大 | 中 | 小 2008年06月25日11:04 Chinese sportswear company Li Ning Co.'s Olympic plans -- including a coveted deal to outfit China's giant state-run sports channel during the Games -- have been nipped in the bud. Outspent by Adidas AG and Nike Inc. on its home turf, Li Ning had astutely negotiated some deals to share in the Olympic glory. The deal was a marketing coup that would have put Li Ning's logo -- a stylized 'L' bearing some resemblance to the Nike swoosh -- in front of millions of Chinese viewers watching the Games. That would have helped it compete against Adidas, an official Olympic sponsor, and Nike, which has sponsored a slew of individual athletes. But now, Li Ning is partially yanking its 'L' off the air during the Games. The company said that China Central Television presenters and guests appearing in the studio during the Games will stop wearing Li Ning's logo until the end of August, though its journalists can still wear Li Ning gear while reporting in the field. Li Ning's agreement with CCTV5, known as the Olympic channel, started in January and was supposed to conclude at the end of this year. Li Ning officials had previously said the deal would encounter no problems. Such deals, known as ambush marketing, are typically made by companies that aren't sponsors but want to be associated with one of the world's biggest sporting events. Beijing's opening ceremony Aug. 8 is expected to be the first sporting event to draw one billion live television viewers. Having a deal between a state-owned broadcaster and a well-connected Chinese company abruptly yanked is a warning message to ambush marketers: This time, the government appears to be serious about enforcing sponsorship deals. Experts said companies have to be mindful of annoying the Chinese government, potentially endangering growth of their own businesses in one of the world's fastest growing economies. The Beijing Olympics raised an estimated $1.5 billion in sponsorship fees, about twice as much as the Sydney 2000 Games and three times more than Athens 2004, according to sports-marketing firm Octagon. Greg Paull, head of Beijing-based marketing consultancy R3, said previous Olympic organizing committees were 'pretty much powerless,' to combat ambush marketing, but 'the rules have kind of changed for this Olympics. I can't see anyone breaking the rules and upsetting the [Chinese] government.' While the International Olympic Committee and organizing committees, for example, can enforce the misuse of Olympic symbols, they have a much harder time policing how consumers' think. Out of the 10 brands Chinese consumers most associate with the Olympics, four -- Li Ning, Nike, Pepsi and milk producer Mengniu -- are actually nonsponsors, according to an April survey by R3. In June, Beijing promised to step up efforts to prevent nonsponsors of this summer's Olympics from ambushing the more than 60 official sponsors. In what some took as a direct reference to the Li Ning-CCTV deal, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee's marketing vice-director, Chen Feng, told reporters this month that China's media publications would be 'advised' to carry ads of Olympic partners or sponsors and not to allow non-Olympic partners to appear. Nonsponsors also are having a more difficult time getting permits to hold events in Beijing during the Games, according to people familiar with the matter. The botched Li Ning deal was settled with little outward fuss. The company wasn't ordered by Olympic authorities to bow out, said Ricky Wu, senior associate at Ruder Finn Asia, which handles Li Ning's publicity. According to Mr. Wu, the company voluntarily axed its biggest Olympic exposure opportunity because it 'respects the themes of the Games.' International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the organization 'works to protect the rights of their partners.' CCTV declined to comment. Nonetheless, companies that didn't buy in as official Olympic partners will be likely to share some of the glory. Although Adidas paid more than $100 million to be the official sportswear provider, rival Nike is still reaping a huge amount of Olympic publicity by sponsoring a host of Chinese sporting federations and individual athletes such as Liu Xiang, the hurdler who is China's most famous sportsman besides Yao Ming. That means chances are high a Chinese athlete crossing the finishing line or sinking that winning shot will be sporting the Nike swoosh instead of the Adidas logo. That could mean plenty of exposure for Nike because China could top the gold medal count this time, beating incumbent U.S., according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released this week.

李寧公司奧運夢想遇阻

英 | 大 | 中 | 小

2008年06月25日11:04

中

國體育服裝企業李寧有限公司(Li Ning Co.)的奧運計劃已被扼殺在萌芽狀態﹐這其中也包括奧運會期間為中央電視台體育頻道提供服裝的一項協議。

特別報導
‧2008年北京奧運會

儘 管在本土市場上﹐李寧公司的奧運開支不及阿迪達斯(Adidas AG)和耐克(Nike Inc.)﹐但它還是巧妙地談下了一些協議﹐以分享這次奧運盛宴。與中央電視台達成的協議就是一項營銷策略﹐它將使與耐克勾形標志頗為相似的李寧“L”形 標識出現在上千萬觀看奧運會的中國電視觀眾面前。這將有助於同阿迪達斯和耐克競爭﹐阿迪達斯是北京奧運會合作夥伴﹐而耐克則為不少運動員提供了讚助。

但如今﹐李寧公司的L形標識在奧運會期間上鏡的機會將減少很多。

該公司表示﹐奧運會期間中央電視台演播室的主持人和嘉賓將停止穿戴有李寧標識的服裝﹐直至8月底﹔不過在現場報導的記者仍可以穿著李寧服飾。

李寧同CCTV 5（即現在的奧運頻道）的協議始於今年1月份﹐原定於今年年底中止。李寧公司的管理人員此前曾表示﹐這項協議不會遇到問題。

這類隱性營銷協議多為那些沒有成為奧運讚助商、但又希望能從世界這項最大的體育賽事中分一杯羹的公司所採用。北京奧運會8月8日的開幕式預計將成為首個吸引到10億電視觀眾的體育直播盛事。

國有電視台與關係密切的中國公司之間的協議突然出現了變數無疑是對隱性營銷者發出的警告：這次﹐政府看來要對執行讚助協議動真格的了。

專家表示﹐各家公司都要小心翼翼地避免惹惱中國政府﹐否則可能會危及到它們自身在華業務的增長。據體育營銷機構Octagon稱﹐北京奧運會共獲得了大約15億美元的讚助費﹐大概是2000年悉尼奧運會的兩倍﹐2004年雅典奧運會的三倍以上。

北京體育營銷咨詢公司R3的負責人格雷格•保羅(Greg Paull)說﹐以前那些奧運會組委會對遏制隱性營銷的權力都很小﹐但本屆奧運會發生了一些變化。我沒有看到有任何公司違反規則、惹怒中國政府。

比 如﹐儘管國際奧委會(International Olympic Committee)和組委會可以阻止冒用奧運會標志的情況﹐但它們卻難以控制消費者的想法。根據R3在4月份進行的一項調查﹐在中國消費者認為與奧運會 關係最密切的10個品牌中﹐其中有四個並不是奧運會讚助商﹐它們是李寧、耐克、百事可樂(Pepsi)和蒙牛乳業。

今 年6月﹐北京承諾加 大力度﹐防止今年夏季奧運會的非讚助商伏擊60多個官方讚助商的行為發生。北京奧組委市場開發部副部長陳鋒本月向記者表示﹐建議中國的媒體在奧運報導中刊 登奧運會合作夥伴或讚助商的廣告﹐不允許非奧運會伙伴出現﹐這被認為是直指李寧與中央電視台的協議。

據知情人士透露﹐非讚助商奧運會期間在北京舉辦活動也將更難得到批准。

上述協議的變更並未在外界激起很大反響。負責李寧公司公共關係的Ruder Finn Asia的高級顧問Ricky Wu說﹐並不是奧運會有關部門明令該公司放棄該協議﹐是李寧公司自願減少了利用奧運會展示自己的最好的機會﹐目的是為了尊重奧運會的主題。

國際奧委會發言人艾曼紐爾•莫里奧(Emmanuelle Moreau)說﹐國際奧委會將努力保護其合作伙伴的權利。中央電視台對此不予置評。

儘 管如此﹐那些沒有花錢成為奧運會正式伙伴的企業可能也會分享到奧運盛宴。儘管阿迪達斯支付了1億多美元成為了體育服裝的官方提供商﹐但競爭對手耐克通過讚 助多家中國體育協會和劉翔等運動員仍獲得了許多利用奧運會展示自己的機會。110米欄選手劉翔是姚明之外另一位最知名的中國運動員。

這意味著當中國運動員沖過終點、或是投籃命中時﹐觀眾更多看到的將會是耐克公司的標識﹐而非阿迪達斯。這意味著耐克有大量展示自己的機會﹐因為根據普華永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)本週發佈的一份報告﹐中國此次的獎牌總數有望超過美國﹐名列第一。


Mei Fong


我約6年前才注意中國體育產品公司在其國內電視的強力廣告......

亞洲市場見聞

安踏、李寧別具匠心攫取奧運商機

英 | 大 | 中 | 小

2007年12月19日11:35

大

眾 汽車(Volkswagen AG)、強生公司(Johnson & Johnson)和阿迪達斯(Adidas)等北京奧運會讚助商紛紛斥巨資拓展中國蓬勃發展的消費者市場。不過一些不及這些跨國公司財大氣粗但卻靈活敏捷 的中國公司也在積極挖掘奧運商機。

分析人士表示﹐同在香港上市的安踏體育用品有限公司(Anta Sports Products Ltd.)和李寧有限公司(Li Ning Co. Ltd.)這兩家運動服裝生產商也借奧運會的東風﹐創造性地利用其相對有限的營銷資金﹐以打造自己的品牌。

里昂證券亞太區市場(CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets)中國研究部主管劉煒(William Liu)在最近的一份研究報告中寫道﹐與以往奧運會不同的是﹐北京奧運會的官方讚助商可能不會成為最大的贏家﹐儘管它們為此花費了數百萬美元。

中國銷量第四大的運動服裝品牌安踏是阿迪達斯的勁敵。阿迪達斯旗下的銳步(Reebok)品牌每年約支付籃球明星姚明700萬到1,000萬美元的代言費﹐總部位於福建省、僅有13年曆史的安踏在這方面無法與之相比。

但最近幾年安踏已成為中國籃球協會、中國排球協會和中國乒乓球協會等舉辦的體育賽事的主要讚助商。尤其值得一提的是﹐安踏目前正在嘗試提升其在籃球運動鞋領域的形象。籃球運動鞋通常是利潤率最高的運動鞋產品之一。
安 踏還與休斯頓火箭隊建立了密切聯繫。該公司已簽下路易斯•斯科拉(Luis Scola)、史蒂夫•弗朗西斯(Steve Francis)和邦奇•威爾斯(Bonzi Wells)這三位姚明的隊友為其代言﹐以吸引姚明和火箭隊在中國的龐大粉絲群。安踏於7月份公開上市﹐火箭隊持有該公司1.8%的股份。安踏已表示將讚 助一個訓練營﹐使中國國家隊的隊員能夠與火箭隊一起進行訓練。

除此之外﹐安踏去年還開始讚助“安踏CCTV體壇風雲人物”。這是一檔在中央電視台播出的節目﹐參與者為中國體壇的後起之秀。

體育營銷人士和分析人士表示﹐安踏的營銷策略提升了其在中國二、三線城市年輕消費者中的形象。當耐克公司(Nike Inc.)、阿迪達斯和李寧在更高端市場上爭得不可開交之際﹐安踏能在這個領域佔據主導地位。

經 紀公司聯昌國際(CIMB-GK)駐香港分析師Jennifer So說﹐將重點放在二、三線城市的大眾市場是明智之舉﹐因為這個市場上的消費者需求很大。本月她將安踏股票評級從“中性”上調至“強於大盤”﹐並將該股 12個月的目標價格從8.80港元上調至10.50港元（合1.35美元）。在此之前﹐安踏曾在11月份宣佈今年前9個月的銷量達到1,980萬件﹐高於 Jennifer So對該公司全年銷量1,780萬件的預測。

安踏的首次公開募股價格為5.28港元。在7月10日首個交易日中﹐該股收盤上漲了42%。週二該股收於9.97港元﹐上漲0.13港元。

里 昂證券分析師魏曉坡警告說﹐隨著安踏在多個城市中開設了直營旗艦店﹐公司近期可能會面臨利潤壓力。分析人士相信安踏的競爭對手、歷史更久的李寧在直營零售 業務方面出現了虧損。魏曉坡表示﹐儘管這種直營零售戰略將有助於安踏品牌的建立﹐但在最初幾年中很可能也會處於虧損狀態。

魏 曉坡在一份研 究報告中指出﹐安踏在市場營銷上支出不足﹐僅佔收入的12%﹐而相比之下李寧將收入的17%用於營銷。但他表示﹐儘管如此安踏的估值仍極具吸引力。他預計 在未來兩年中﹐安踏以港元計價的股票每股收益平均每年將增長52%。他將該股評級為“買進”﹐將目標價格定為10.70港元。

李寧有限公司的創始人李寧曾在1984年洛杉磯奧運會上獲得三枚金牌。該公司也在採用創新性的營銷策略。20世紀90年代﹐該公司曾挑選中國的頂尖運動員為其代言﹐直到中國對外國品牌越來越開放。

李寧一度曾想競爭2008年北京奧運會的官方運動服裝讚助商﹐但卻不敵資金雄厚的阿迪達斯。據知情人士透露﹐阿迪達斯花了8,000萬美元到1億美元來讚助北京奧運會。

與更專注於中國國內市場的安踏不同﹐李寧一直在努力提升在國外的形象﹐曾簽下沙奎•奧尼爾(Shaquille O'Neal)和西班牙國家籃球隊為其代言。

李 寧還爭取讚助那些受歡迎但較小的奧運會體育隊。該公司曾嘗試讚助伊拉克足球隊﹐但是沒有成功。預計伊拉克足球隊在北京奧運會上將會有出色表現﹐而且因為目 前伊拉克局勢動盪﹐公眾對其充滿同情。但最終韓國的LG電子(LG Electronics Co.)擊敗李寧成為其讚助商。

出於同樣的戰略考量﹐李寧在9月份與蘇丹國家田徑隊簽約成為其讚助商。蘇丹目前也是政局動盪﹐並且也擁有諸如女子短跑運動員娜瓦爾•埃爾•傑克(Nawal El Jack)這樣的體育明星。她曾在2006年世界青年田徑錦標賽上獲得女子400米銅牌。

這樣的讚助之舉也有風險：一些維權組織抗議蘇丹達爾富爾地區的人道危機﹐並正在力促2008年奧運會上抵制蘇丹政府官員。但李寧的首席營運長郭建新表示他認為李寧品牌不會因與蘇丹運動員的關係而受損。

11 月份李寧宣佈將斥資3.21億港元（合4,100萬美元）收購上海紅雙喜冠都體育用品有限公司(Shanghai Double Happiness Co.) 58%的股份。紅雙喜主要生產乒乓球桌和相關體育用品﹐同時也是奧運會讚助商。由於乒乓球運動在中國廣泛流行﹐分析人士認為此次收購將增強李寧的實力。

在李寧宣佈了此項收購交易之後﹐美林公司(Merrill Lynch & Co.)分析師Denise Chai將李寧股票的目標價格上調25%﹐至32港元。週二該股下跌1港元﹐至26.30港元。該股目前價格較去年年底上漲了一倍多。

里昂證券的魏曉坡表示﹐即使是在收購了紅雙喜之後﹐李寧手中仍有7,600萬美元的淨現金﹐還可以再進行收購。他將李寧股票12個月的目標價格定為29.51港元。

Mei Fong

本文涉及股票或公司

安踏體育用品有限公司（簡稱﹕安踏體育)
英文名稱﹕Anta Sports Products Ltd.
總部地點﹕中國大陸
上市地點﹕香港交易所
股票代碼﹕2020

李寧有限公司
英文名稱﹕Li Ning Co. Ltd.
總部地點﹕中國大陸
上市地點﹕香港交易所
股票代碼﹕2331

smartphones war

From a business perspective -- who's making money on mobile phones in one way or the other -- the clear winners are Apple, Google (via advertising, mostly) and Samsung.
So today, we can say that the smartphone market is solidly controlled by two companies that are less than nine miles apart from each other in Silicon Valley in the U.S. (Apple and Google), plus Samsung in South Korea.
These three companies in two countries ship the handsets, make the operating systems and collect most of the profits.
But what will the mobile market look like five years from now?

Meet the new operating systems

All is not well in the universe of mobile platforms, or operating systems.
Apple's iOS platform used to be much better loved by Apple fans. It had by far the most and best apps, and it was perceived by most to be innovative and leading edge.
But the Android platform is either catching up to, or has already surpassed, iOS in both innovation, as well as the quantity and quality of available apps. When you combine software improvements on Android with a vastly greater variety of available handsets, many former iPhone users are defecting to the other side, or thinking about it.
While users are growing ever fonder of the Android platform and its apps, hardware makers that create Android-powered phones are growing less fond. The issue is direct competition from Google itself.
Google has twice launched phone initiatives where it decided to sell Google-branded phones. The first initiative was in early 2010 when Google launched the Nexus One, followed by the Nexus S. They were manufactured by Samsung, but the fact that Google was involved in their design and sold them directly gave the phones a huge advantage over any phone Samsung might sell -- or any phone Samsung's competitors might sell.
Google later came out with the Galaxy Nexus (made by Samsung) and later still the Nexus 4.
Google also bought Motorola last year, both for the patents and also presumably to assert some control over the direction of Android mobile devices.
The first serious assertion of that control may be the development of a device called the Google X phone, which is being developed at Motorola and which is expected to be unveiled at Google's May developer's conference, Google I/O.
Nobody knows what the Google X phone (and tablet) will be like, but hints, rumors and speculation agree that it will be very different from existing Android phones.
All this strong competition from Google makes handset makers wonder whether Google is friend or foe, and whether they might be better off with another software platform.
These disaffected Google partners may be looking more closely at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, now that Nokia reported some impressive numbers (both of which included the numeral 4, oddly enough): The company sold 4.4 million Lumia Windows Phone devices and reported a year-over-year quarterly U.S. market revenue increase of 444%.

Although the market punished Nokia's earnings, a careful analyst might notice that Nokia's Lumia line failed horribly in the so-called "emerging markets" of China and elsewhere, but succeeded in the U.S. and Europe. The company is making more money on far fewer handsets than before. In other words, Windows Phone 8 may be helping Nokia's economic situation become less like Google's (high volume, low margin) and more like Apple's (high margin, low volume).
Beyond iOS, Android and Windows Phone, there are other emerging platforms under consideration by some current Android handset makers.
In fact, Google's biggest and most profitable Android partner, Samsung, is supporting a new platform called Tizen. (Intel is also a backer.) If Samsung switched from Android to Tizen, the phone platform scene would be transformed overnight. The first Tizen devices are expected within three months.
Mozilla, the people who make the Firefox browser, are developing the Firefox OS for smartphones. The first Firefox phones are expected to hit next month.

The people at Ubuntu Linux, the most popular client version of that operating system, are building a version for smartphones.
HP's WebOS, acquired from Palm, is still a potential factor, especially since HP plans to release an open-source version called Open WebOS.
Note that all of these platforms -- Tizen, Firefox OS, Ubuntu Linux and Open WebOS -- are Linux-based and all or most will be relatively open compared with Android.

Meet the new handset makers

While upstart platforms threaten to take advantage of weaknesses in the iOS and Android worlds, a similar thing is happening in handsets.
Right now, Samsung and Apple dominate. But in China and in other markets, Chinese companies are growing faster than the global leaders.
Sometime this year, we'll reach the point where half the mobile phones sold in the world will be smartphones, rather than feature phones. The reason for that shift is partly caused by a drastic reduction in pricing for smartphones, thanks to low-cost Chinese brands. And also high-end brands.
In China itself, for example, Samsung is the No. 1 handset maker. But No. 2 is Lenovo, a Chinese company, and its handset business is profitable, too. According to one article, there are more than 100 Chinese companies now making smartphone handsets, and they all want to be Samsung.
Rumors have been circulating that Lenovo is in talks to buy RIM -- a development that, combined with continued aggressive growth, could thrust Lenovo into Samsung territory as a global maker of phones.
So if Samsung is No. 1 and Lenovo is No. 2, Apple must be No. 3, right? Wrong!
No. 3 in the Chinese market is Huawei, followed by ZTE, followed by Coolpad. By unit sales, Apple is the No. 6 handset maker in China -- and its market share is shrinking.
These companies, especially Huawei and ZTE, are bringing the smartphone revolution to emerging markets, for the most part. And now they want entry into the U.S. and European markets. Huawei and ZTE each had a large presence at the International CES trade show, which served as a kind of coming out party for those companies in the U.S.
Samsung and Apple fans may scoff at the idea that some obscure Chinese brand like Huawei or ZTE could take market share away from the leaders. But if either or both of these companies can make phones that are 95% as good as Samsung's best phone, and cost half the price, people are going to buy them in large numbers.
Apple, Google and Samsung control the global market for smartphones. But over the next year or two, all that could change as new software platforms and new handset makers take advantage of the leaders' stumbles to gobble up market share, market power and influence over the direction of mobile devices.
Correction: This column has been changed to say that Samsung was the maker of the Nexus S smartphone. The story originally stated that the phone was built by HTC.
Mike Elgan writes about technology and tech culture. You can contact Mike and learn more about him on Google+. You can also see more articles by Mike Elgan on Computerworld.com.




Is Sony Gaining Momentum in Smartphones?

While Japan's ailing consumer-electronics sector struggles to regain momentum, it turns out that Sony Corp. actually climbed to the No. 3 position in the global smartphone market in the third quarter. Sony, which was the No. 6 player in the same quarter a year earlier, came only behind Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., according to the latest data from research firm IDC.

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Nokia Corp. sank to seventh place in the booming global smartphone market in the third quarter, as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. maintained their hold on a segment once dominated by the Finnish company.
Nokia accounted for 7.2 million, or 4.3%, of the 169.2 million smartphones sold world-wide in the latest quarter, taking the company down from third place in the prior three-month period, research firm Gartner Inc. said Wednesday.
The handset maker's chief executive, Stephen Elop, said that while he is pleased with the sales progress of Nokia's recently launched Lumia smartphones, he realizes the company still needs ...

As Apple's Battle With HTC Ends, Smartphone Patent Fights Continue

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Apple's settlement of an Android-related lawsuit could be a sign that its chief wants to end the distraction of patent fights, but it does not necessarily portend a similar agreement with Samsung.

Apple Starts Taking iPhone 5 Preorders

Apple appeared to have sold out of its initial inventory of the iPhone 5 just an hour after it began accepting preorders, suggesting strong consumer interest.

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Apple remains the top seller of high-price mobile phones in China, but the company's hold on the lucrative niche is slipping.

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Nokia Laments 'Poor Judgment' in Lumia Marketing

Nokia said its use of misleading marketing material for its new range of Lumia smartphones was a result of "poor judgment" and the company has taken "appropriate action" to correct the problem.



Google is allegedly playing hardball with its Android partners.
The company forced Acer to drop its support of Alibaba's new mobile operating system, Aliyun, threatening to pull its Android-related cooperation and support if Acer didn't, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswires.
Acer was originally scheduled to hold a press conference today to show off a smartphone running on Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba's Aliyun platform, but it cancelled the event. Acer told Dow Jones that it will continue to talk with Google and hopes to still use Aliyun.