Apple’s iPhone 6 has passed a key regulatory hurdle in China but still has not received permission to be sold in the country, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
中国官方的新华社报道称,苹果公司(Apple)的iPhone 6在中国通过了一项关键的监管障碍,但仍未获准在中国销售。
The announcement was the first official indication of what had been behind the delayed launch of the company’s latest mobile phone in one of its most important markets. Earlier this week Apple had said only that it would not be launching in China alongside its debut elsewhere today, but had given no explanation for the delay.
这是中国官方首次暗示苹果最新款手机在其最重要市场之一延迟发售的原因。本周早些时候,苹果公司仅表示,iPhone 6首日发售地区不包括中国,但没有解释延迟的原因。
Xinhua said the phone had received regulatory approval for use on domestic frequencies but still requires one more licence – a network access license – before it will be allowed to be sold in the country.
新华社表示,iPhone 6已获得监管机构批准使用国内频率,但它仍需获得一项入网许可牌照,然后才能在中国销售。
Apple declined to comment.
苹果公司拒绝置评。
China is vital to Apple’s growth story, as Western smartphone markets approach saturation.
随着西方智能手机市场接近饱和,中国市场对苹果公司的增长故事极为关键。
Apple has said that it received more than 4m pre-orders for its latest iPhones in the first 24 hours last week. But analysts are split over whether Apple can beat last year’s first-weekend sales of 9m without China, which was part of the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5C.
苹果公司表示,最新款iPhone手机上周发布后,最初24小时内预购量超过400万部。但对于苹果能否在没有中国市场的情况下超过去年首个周末的900万部销量,分析师们意见不一。去年发售的是iPhone 5s和iPhone 5C,首日发售地区包括中国。
“This year investors are somewhat cautious about how the exclusion of China could impact first weekend sales,” said Walter Piecyk, analyst at BTIG Research. He expects more than 10m units to be shipped in the first weekend.
BTIG Research的分析师沃尔特•佩西克(Walter Piecyk)表示:“今年投资者对中国市场缺席将如何影响首个周末销量有些谨慎。”他预计首个周末的销量将会超过1000万部。
Toni Sacconaghi, analyst at Bernstein, estimated that 7m-8m units would be sold. This would be the first time an iPhone had declined over the prior year on its first three days on sale. Nonetheless, he said this could help to boost sales in China after December, smoothing out the usual spike in a new iPhone’s first three months. Without the second critical license, Apple has not yet said when it will begin to sell the iPhone 6 in China.
伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)的分析师托尼•萨科纳吉(Toni Sacconaghi)估计销量将为700万至800万部。若果真如此,将是新iPhone手机头3天销量首次低于往年。然而,萨科纳吉表示,这可能有助于在12月份之后提升中国销量,让新iPhone手机开售头3个月通常出现的销量激增比较平缓。在尚未获得入网许可的情况下,苹果没有说明何时开始在中国销售iPhone 6。
The news came as Apple released a new website detailing its approach to privacy. While Apple has sought to distance itself from Silicon Valley peers such as Google over its handling of personal information, especially as it moves into new areas such as health tracking and payments, the iPhone maker has faced criticism in China for allegedly revealing “state secrets” to US intelligence agencies. Apple denied the claim.
新华社发表上述报道之际,苹果公司开通了一个新网站详述其隐私政策。尽管苹果寻求在个人信息处理方面与谷歌(Google)等硅谷同行拉开距离,尤其是在它进入健康追踪和支付等新领域之际,但iPhone制造商仍在中国面临向美国情报机构泄露“国家秘密”的指控。苹果否认这项指责。
One person familiar with Apple’s position in China said it was hard to separate these political attacks from more technical regulatory delays.
一位了解苹果在中国市场地位的人士表示,很难将这些政治攻击与更为技术性的监管拖延分开。
It has also emerged that Apple has been seeking to appoint a head of law enforcement in Beijing, which would involve facilitating requests by the Chinese government for data on Apple users in China.
还有消息称,苹果寻求在北京任命一个执法主管,这个职务将涉及配合中国政府获取境内苹果用户数据的请求。
As part of a push for faster internet service for its users, Apple has begun storing users’ personal data on servers in China, which makes them vulnerable to access by Chinese authorities.
作为提升用户互联网服务速度的努力的一部分,苹果开始在中国境内的服务器存储用户的个人数据,但此举也让这些数据易于被中国当局获取。
Many companies such as Google have moved their servers abroad rather than risk the political and moral dilemmas of having to submit to information requests by the Chinese government.
谷歌等许多公司将它们的服务器转移到中国境外,而不是冒险面对政治和道德上的两难境地——不得不应中国政府要求提交数据。