Chinese smartphone manufacturers speed up cracking Indian market

For years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have purchased new smartphones. In the process they lifted the fortunes of local handset makers, from the well known like Huawei and Lenovo to the obscure like Coolpad and Gionee.

多年来，数亿中国人购买了新的智能手机。在此过程中，本土的手机制造商的业绩大幅增长，无论是知名的华为和联想，还是像酷派和金立等相对不知名的品牌。

The saturated Chinese market — more than 800 million people there use smartphones, according to IDC — means fewer new buyers, and a slowing economy means less spending. So Chinese companies are turning to India, trying to catch a $14.5 billion market on the way up.

据IDC的数据显示，超过8亿中国人使用智能手机。已经饱和的中国市场意味着更少的新买家，而经济放缓又意味着消费支出下降。因此，中国企业正将目光转向印度，试图抓住这个规模达14.5亿美元并且仍在持续增长的市场。

"It is India first for us," said Varun Sharma, Coolpad's chief executive of Indian operations. He said Coolpad, a Shenzhen-based company, planned to use its patents and manufacturing infrastructure to sell devices "at $100 price points for the Indian market and not at $800 or $1,000 price points that global brands are doing."

"对我们而言，印度市场是摆在第一位的,"酷派印度首席执行官瓦伦·沙尔玛说，酷派是一家总部位于深圳的公司，计划利用其专利和生产设施，"在印度市场销售处于100美元价位的手机，而不是像其他国际品牌在800美元或1000美元的价位。"

India's smartphone sales are just a fraction of China's. But as one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world, with hundreds of millions of potential new customers, India may indicate whether a new generation of Chinese hardware companies can grow beyond their country's borders.

印度市场的智能手机销售量只相当于中国市场销量的一小部分，但作为一个增长最快的智能手机市场，拥有数以亿计的潜在消费者。印度或许会显示出，中国新一代的硬件制造商是否具有向中国以外的国家和地区扩张的能力。

It is intensely competitive, with more than 150 brands. Among the best-selling brands are several indigenous companies with an inside track on local phone habits. Another top seller is a multinational, Samsung, which has deep experience selling across different cultures.

150多个手机品牌在此激烈竞争，在畅销品牌中有几家是本土企业，它们更善于追踪本土手机使用习惯。另一个畅销品牌是跨国公司三星，该公司在不同文化的市场上销售手机的经验非常丰富。

Xiaomi, the most successful Chinese company in India, owned only 4 percent of the market in the fourth quarter.

小米是在印度最成功的中国手机公司，在去年第四季度也只占有4%的市场份额。

Many Chinese companies are trying to make their case directly to potential Indian buyers online. It is a technique pioneered by Xiaomi, which used e-commerce to overcome difficult-to-manage and expensive storefronts and distribution deals in China and now India.

许多中国公司正试图在网上直接与潜在的印度消费者进行接触。小米在中国是率先采用这一模式的公司，利用电子商务来克服各种问题，从难以管理的昂贵店面到分销协议。而现在，小米在印度也采取了这一模式。

Analysts said companies like his were arriving in their new market at the right time.

分析人士称，与酷派公司类似的公司在正确的时间进入了这个新市场。

"Chinese manufacturers can find a lot of play in India, which is in the early phase of growth, and they can fight for meaningful revenues and profits," said Anshul Gupta, a research director at Gartner.

"中国制造商在处于早期增长阶段的印度市场上可以大有作为，他们可以努力奋斗，以求得到一定的利润和收入，"高德纳公司的研究主管安舒尔·古普塔说。

Even so, many Chinese companies have set ambitious targets for themselves. Coolpad, which will introduce its inexpensive Dazen phone online in coming weeks, said it aims to sell three million to four million smartphones in one year, and 15 million to 20 million in three years.

许多中国公司都给自己设定了宏伟目标。酷派将于未来三周在网上推出平价的大神手机。该公司说，他们的目标是在一年内卖出300万到400万部智能手机，三年内卖出1500万到2000万部。

Xiaomi, now worth $45 billion, moved into the top five sellers in India in the fourth quarter of 2014. Underscoring the company's focus there, the international vice president and former Google executive Hugo Barra recently presided over an Apple-like blowout introductory event in New Delhi for its Mi 4i phone, designed specifically for India. The company says it aims to be the top handset brand in India by 2020.

小米公司现在的估值为450亿美元。2014年第四季度时，小米跻身印度最畅销的5个手机品牌之列。小米科技全球副总裁、前谷歌高管雨果•巴拉近期在新德里主持了一场和苹果类似的新产品发布会，突出了小米对印度市场的重视。在发布会上，雨果•巴拉推出了小米4i，这是专为印度市场打造的手机。该公司表示，它的目标是到2020年时，小米能问鼎手机销售冠军。

The smaller Chinese start-up OnePlus, which puts equal emphasis on selling in China and abroad, began selling its flagship One phone in December, and has sold 200,000 phones already. It is shooting to sell a million devices by the end of this year.

规模更小的中国初创公司一加科技把中国和海外的销售看得同样重要。去年12月，一加科技开始销售其旗舰手机一加手机，目前为止已经卖出20万部。其目标是到今年年底卖出100万部。

In the path of those ambitions are a host of Indian rivals, each hoping to use local knowledge to repeat the success of Chinese phone makers in China. Micromax, which owns the second-largest share of the Indian market after Samsung, is already adapting to the Chinese invasion, holding online-only sales and making some phone models Internet exclusive.

在实现这些目标的过程中有许多来自印度本土的竞争者，它们都想利用对当地的了解来复制中国手机制造商在本国的成功。Micromax占据了印度手机市场第二大市场份额，仅排在三星之后，它已经开始针对中国品牌的入侵做出改变。Micromax现在也会只在线上销售一些手机，并且还在制造更多仅限互联网销售的手机。

One of the most successful Chinese brands in India so far, Xiaomi has gone to great lengths to create products catering to customers there. Its new Mi 4i phone costs more than many rivals at about $200, but supports six Indian languages, with local engineers working to increase that number.

作为目前在印度最成功的中国品牌之一，小米竭尽全力地为印度顾客打造适合他们的产品。小米的新产品小米4i比大多数竞品要贵，价格约为200美元。但是它支持6种印度语言，其本土设计师团队还在继续增加这个数量。

The company has also built an online store that focuses on India's passions of cricket and Bollywood, and has plans to open 100 stores around the country before the end of the year.

小米还开了一家网上商店，以迎合印度人对板球和宝莱坞的喜爱。小米计划在今年年底之前在印度开设100家新店。