Xiaomi buys Microsoft phone patents

Software maker Microsoft Corp is selling about 1,500 of its patents to Chinese device maker Xiaomi, a rare departure for the U.S. company and part of what the two companies say is the start of a long-term partnership.

软件企业微软将向中国手机生产商小米出售约1500项专利。这项交易对微软而言十分罕见，也成为两家企业开启长期合作模式的一部分。

The deal also includes a patent cross-licensing arrangement and a commitment by Xiaomi to install copies of Microsoft software, including Office and Skype, on its phones and tablets.

该交易亦包括一项专利交叉授权安排，且小米承诺在其手机和平板电脑上安装包括Office和Skype等微软软件。

"This is a very big collaboration agreement between the two companies," Wang Xiang, senior vice president at Xiaomi, said by telephone ahead of the deal.

小米高级副总裁王翔在交易公布前通过电话表示，"这是两家企业之间一项非常重大的合作协议。"

Analysts said Xiaomi's ambitions to be a major player outside China were hampered by weak patent protection and a fear of a prolonged legal battle.

分析师称，小米雄心勃勃想在中国以外市场大展拳脚，此前却受阻于专利权保护问题，也担心陷入旷日持久的法律纠纷。

"This deal might just give them enough of a patent trove to move to Western markets," said Sameer Singh, a UK-based analyst. "Their position in China has been under constant attack from even lower-end Android vendors, so moving overseas is now a necessity."

"这一交易可能使他们获得大量专利权足以进入西方市场，"英国分析师Sameer Singh称。"他们在中国市场的地位不断受到打击，甚至是来自低端安卓手机厂商的打击，目前看来拓展海外市场是必要之举。"

Shipments of Xiaomi phones fell 9 percent year-on-year in China in the first quarter, according to Strategy Analytics, and its market share dipped to 12 percent from 13 percent, squeezed not only by Huawei and Samsung Electronics but also smaller contenders including Oppo and Vivo.

根据Strategy Analytics，小米手机第一季在中国的出货量较上年同期减少9%，市场份额从13%下滑至12%，不仅受到华为和三星的挤压，也面临Oppo和Vivo等较小对手的追赶。

Wang said the acquisition of Microsoft patents, which included voice communications, multimedia and cloud computing, on top of some 3,700 patents the Chinese company filed last year, were "an important step forwards to support our expansion internationally."

王翔表示，购买语音通讯、多媒体和云计算等微软专利，再加上该公司去年申请的约3700项专利，是支持小米开展国际性扩张的重要一步。

Xiaomi launched its first U.S. device earlier this month, a TV set-top box it developed in cooperation with Google. Xiaomi has also launched a tablet which runs a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

小米稍早推出与谷歌合作研发电视机顶盒，是第一款面向美国市场的小米设备。小米还推出一款运行微软Windows操作系统的平板电脑。

Jonathan Tinter, corporate vice president at Microsoft, said the company was keen to tap into Xiaomi's young, affluent and educated users by having its products pre-installed on their devices. He declined to go into detail about the patent deals, but said the overall deal was something "we do only with a few strategic partners."

微软企业副总裁Jonathan Tinter表示，将微软产品预装在小米设备中，进而与那些收入和教育水平较高的年轻小米用户建立联系，这是微软乐于看到的结果。他拒绝详谈双方专利交易细节，但称"整体而言，我们只与少数战略伙伴才会签订那样的协议"。