Samsung Electronics Co. is stepping up its hunt for acquisitions and building out its presence in Silicon Valley to try and overcome its key weakness: software.三星电子公司正加快寻求回收机会，并采取手段扩大其在硅谷的影响力，以尝试克服其主要弱点：软件。The South Korea-based company became the worlds largest maker of smartphones by manufacturing attractive devices that hit the market quickly and cheaply.这家韩国企业生产的电子商品上市速度快且价格低廉，对买家极具吸引力，使其成为了世界最大的智能手机制造商。But to thrive in a mobile-device market increasingly dominated by software specialists like Apple Inc., 谷歌 Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which acquired Nokia Corp.s phone business last month, Samsung is aiming to become a software power in its own right.但为了在日益被苹果、Google和Microsoft等精通软件的厂家主导的手机市场获得如火如荼，三星计划凭己之力成为软件巨擘。Microsoft在上个月刚刚回收了诺基亚的手机业务。Earlier this year, Samsung was among the bidders for Israeli mobile-mapping service Waze Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. 谷歌 eventually bought Waze for about $1.1 billion in July, a deal that is under review by the Federal Trade Commission. According to one person, Samsung had approached Waze in hopes of making a large investment and forming a partnership, before acquisition talks kicked off.知情人士表示，今年早些时候，三星参与了以色列手机地图服务公司Waze Ltd.的回收推广竞价。7月份，Google最后以约110亿USD的价格回收Waze，现在该买卖正在同意美国联邦贸易委员会的审察。据一位知情人士称，在回收谈判开始前，三星曾与Waze有过接洽，期望进行大笔投资并打造合作关系。Samsung has plenty of other Silicon Valley software startups in its sights, particularly in games, mobile search, social media and mapping-related services, according to employees and an internal document reviewed by the Journal.从三星职员提供的信息及《华尔街日报》审阅过的一份内部文件来看，三星已经筹备在硅谷回收很多软件初创企业，特别是游戏、手机搜索、社交媒体和地图有关服务方面的企业。The document, a mergers and acquisitions presentation prepared in February by Samsungs Media Solution Center, the arm that works on software initiatives, lays out the companys rationale for bulking up in each category and lists potential acquisition and investment targets.这份文件是三星公司负责软件方面行动的媒体解决方法中心今年2月筹备的一份有关兼并回收的演示报告，其中讲解了公司在每一个范围扩张的原因，并列出了潜在的回收和投资的目的。According to the document, Samsung has evaluated startups such as Unity Technologies, a San Francisco-based developer of gaming platforms, and Green Throttle Games Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that makes game controllers and software that connects mobile devices to televisions. It has also considered gaming pioneer Atari Inc., which Samsung could have used to offer classic games like Asteroids and Pong exclusively on its mobile phones. Atari auctioned off some of its properties this year as part of a bankruptcy filing after rejecting preliminary bids from several companies for its portfolio of games.这份文件显示，三星对Unity Technologies和Green Throttle Games Inc.等初创企业进行了评估。前者是旧金山一家游戏平台开发商，后者是加州 克拉拉一家制造游戏手柄和手机与电视连接软件的公司。三星还考虑了游戏行业的先锋企业Atari Inc.，三星原本可以借助这家公司在手机上提供Asteroids和Pong等经典游戏。Atari今年拒绝了数家公司对其游戏组合商品的初步推广竞价要约，后来根据破产申请的需要将它部分资产进行了拍卖。Samsung has also looked closely at Glympse, a Seattle-based company that allows users to share their location with their friends--a service that Samsung says could be integrated into their phones native calendar and contacts functions, differentiating it from competitors.三星还对西雅图的Glympse予以了密切关注。这是一家为用户提供地点推荐服务的公司，三星表示这项服务可以与手机自带的日历和联系人功能进行整理，从而在角逐对手中脱颍而出。Samsung first reached out to Glympse in early 2012, and has raised the prospect of an equity investment, though discussions remain ongoing, according to a person familiar with the matter. Last month, Glympse unveiled an app for Samsungs Galaxy Gear smartwatch.据知情人士称，三星最早于2012年初与Glympse接洽，并提出了股权投资的设想，但商讨现在还在进行中。上个月，Glympse为三星Galaxy Gear智能手表推出了一款应用。Elsewhere in the document, Samsung named Tel Aviv-based mobile search engine Everything.me as a possible target. It has also looked at video-chat app Rounds, another Israeli startup, that would help Samsung compete with Apples FaceTime and 谷歌s Hangouts.在这份文件中，三星还将以色列特拉维夫的手机搜索引擎Everything.me作为潜在目的。除此之外还在考虑视频聊天应用Rounds，开发这一应用的Rounds公司也是一家以色列的初创企业，这一应用将可以帮助三星与苹果的FaceTime和Google的Hangouts角逐。Samsung declined to comment on its acquisition plans--but it has made no secret of what it calls its embracing the culture of Silicon Valley.三星拒绝就其回收计划予以置评，但其所自称的“对硅谷文化的欢迎”已经不是秘密。In recent months, the Suwon, South Korea-based company has broken ground on a major research facility near Apples offices and launched a software startup accelerator with locations in Palo Alto, Calif., and Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood. It will make early-stage investments in startups, especially developers of software for Samsung devices.近几个月，总部坐落于韩国水原的三星公司开始在硅谷启动离苹果公司不远的一处大型研发中心的建设，并开设了一个覆盖加州帕洛阿尔托和曼哈顿切尔西社区的软件创业公司加速器。加速器将为初创企业进行早期投资，尤其是为三星产品研发软件的开发商。Samsung, which has $1.1 billion set aside for early-stage startup and venture capital investments in the U.S., is also poaching software engineers from its U.S. rivals and, at a hotel in San Francisco later this month, will host its first ever developers conference, an important step toward creating an ecosplayystem of applications unique to its devices.三星拨出了11亿USD用于在美国进行初创企业的早期投资及风险投资，同时也在挖美国角逐对手的软件工程师。本月晚些时候三星将在旧金山一家酒店举行有史以来的初次开发商大会，这是创建专为三星商品量身定制的应用程序“生态环境”的要紧一步。The kind of things that happen in the Valley are really exciting to Samsung, said David Eun, the head of Samsungs Open Innovation Center, which operates the software-startup accelerator.负责运作软件创业公司加速器的三星开放革新中心的负责人大卫·尤恩说：“正在硅谷发生的事情对三星来讲很激动人心。”The aggressive move into its rivals backyard is unusual for Samsung, a company that has historically kept its operations heavily centralized and shied away from outside deals. The emphasis on self-reliance runs so deep that Samsung manufactures some 90% of its products within its own factories.积极闯入角逐对手后院的做法对三星来讲是不同一般的，由于这是一个历来高度集中管理且避开外部买卖的公司。对自给自足的侧重根深蒂固，因此三星约90%的商品都是在我们的工厂中生产。Privately, company executives portray the recent shift not as a repudiation of its long-term strategy, but rather as a complement to its own research and development efforts, which remain substantial.私下里，三星公司高管并不觉得近期的转变是对其长期策略的背离，而是与自己本已充实的研发努力相辅相成。The company spent $10.8 billion on RD last year, with 67, 000 employees devoted to helping Samsung maintain its edge in the global television, 百度竞价推广iconductor and home-appliance markets.三星去年的研发开支为108亿USD，6.7万名职员全力以赴帮助三星维持在全球电视、半导体和家电市场的优势。So far, though, its attempts at developing a proprietary-software hit for its mobile phones--which account for two-thirds of Samsungs operating profits--have fallen flat.不过迄今为止，为三星手机开发热点自有软件的努力并未达到预期成效。手机业务占三星营业收益的三分之二。Among Samsungs recent efforts are an abandoned mobile operating system, a mobile chat service that has struggled to gain traction and coolly received technologies that anticipate hand gestures and eye movements.在三星近期的努力中，有一款废置的手机操作系统、一款很难获得关注的移动聊天服务管理系统，手势和眼球操纵技术的市场反应也比较冷淡。In November 2009, Samsung launched Bada, an open-source mobile operating system that it hoped could challenge 谷歌s Android platform. But Badas unfriendly user interface and poor syncing with other devices proved unpopular with consumers.2009年11月，三星推出了开源手机操作系统Bada，期望该系统可以与Google的Android相较量。但因为用户界面不友好，与其他设施的同步也非常差，Bada并未遭到买家的欢迎。Earlier this year, Samsung pulled the plug on Bada, rolling those efforts into a new operating system known as Tizen. There too, Silicon Valley plays a key role: Samsung is codeveloping Tizen with Intel Corp. The company has yet to release a Tizen-powered smartphone.今年早些时候，三星舍弃了Bada，把精力投在了一款名叫Tizen的新型操作系统上。硅谷第三饰演了重要的角色：Tizen是三星与英特尔合作开发的。三星现在尚未发布Tizen操作系统的智能手机。If Samsungs new operating system catches on, it could relieve the companys reliance on Android, which powers the vast majority of Samsungs mobile devices, including its new smartwatch.假如三星的新款操作系统遭到欢迎，那样就能缓解公司对Android的依靠。三星绝大部分手机都使用Android系统，包含其最新的智能手表。Breaking through with a proprietary must-have software application could also bolster Samsungs position at a time when the company is vulnerable to competition from Chinese hardware makers, including Lenovo Group Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Inc. In the most recent quarter, Samsungs mobile business saw its operating profit margin fall to 17.7%, from 19.8% in the previous quarter amid pricing pressure from rivals and increased spending on advertising.面对包含联想集团、华为技术公司和小米公司在内的中国硬件制造商的角逐，开创性地开发出一款自有些“必须具备”软件应用还可以提升三星的地位。三季度，因为角逐对手的价格重压与广告成本的增加，三星手机业务的运营利率以前一季度的19.8%降低到了17.7%。Meanwhile, 谷歌s tie-up with Motorola Mobility in 2011, and Microsofts move to acquire Nokias mobile-phone business last month, mean that Samsung will face heightened competition from companies that, like Apple, can compete in both hardware and software.同时，Google2011年与摩托罗拉移动企业的联姻，与上个月Microsoft对诺基亚手机业务的回收，都意味着三星将面临来自苹果等在软硬件方面均有强大实力的企业的更大的角逐。Samsungs software success is far from assured. Unlike Apple, 谷歌 and Microsoft, the Korean electronics giant doesnt have a history of software achievements. Instead, Samsung cut its teeth in the world of hardware, where efficiency, flexibility and supply-chain management are paramount.三星在软件方面的成功哪个也不可以保证。与苹果、Google和Microsoft不同，这家韩国电子巨头并没在软件方面成就非凡的历史。相反，三星在硬件范围可谓轻车熟路，在这个范围，效率、灵活性和Supply chain管理至关要紧。Acquiring its way to software dominance is no easier than building up its software capabilities organically. While Samsung has some nearly $50 billion in cash on hand, the company has struggled in the past with deal-making. Even today, some in Silicon Valley say, Samsung has developed a reputation for kicking the tires on a range of potential deals, only rarely pulling the trigger.通过回收为进入软件范围开路并不比逐步塑造其软件方面的能力容易。尽管手头有近500亿USD的现金，但三星过去过去在回收买卖上栽过跟头。硅谷有人说，就连目前，三星也都只不过对一系列潜在买卖进行了调查，但极少敲定成交。One reason for such caution is Samsungs purchase of AST Research Inc. in the mid-1990s, an experience that still weighs heavily on company executives.这种小心是什么原因之一是三星在上世纪90年代中期对AST Research Inc.的回收，这次回收历程对公司高管的影响依旧非常大。The two-part, $840 million acquisition of Irvine, Calif.-based AST, once the worlds fifth-largest computer maker, was conceived as an attempt to break into the U.S. personal-computer market.总部坐落于加州尔湾的AST当时是世界第五大电脑制造商。三星以8.4亿USD的价格分两部分对其进行了回收，这一举动被觉得是企图打入美国个人电脑市场。Samsung sustained heavy losses in AST before ultimately giving up on the deal, which remains Samsungs largest overseas acquisition to date. Even now, the office of the chairman remains wary of big acquisitions, in large part because of AST, employees say.因为遭受沉重损失，三星最后舍弃了对AST的回收。迄今为止这依旧是三星历史上规模最大的国外回收。三星职员表示，到目前董事长办公室对大型回收买卖依旧维持小心，非常大程度上就是由于AST回收。Samsungs recent acquisitions have been small, and focused on software developers that can help distinguish Samsungs phones from others built on the Android platform三星最近的回收买卖规模都较小，并且集中于能帮助三星手机有别于其他搭载Android平台商品的软件开发商身上。Last May, Samsung--seeking to create a credible rival to Apples iTunes platform--snapped up mSpot Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile-software developer with hopes of creating a one-sTOP media platform that would allow users to stream and download music on their Samsung devices.去年5月，为了对苹果iTunes平台构成实质性的威胁，三星回收了加州帕洛阿尔托手机APP开发商mSpot，期望创建一个一站式媒体平台，让用户可从三星手机上试听和下载音乐。In the process, Samsung hoped to rival not only iTunes, but also online music-streaming services such as those offered by Swedens Spotify AB and Oakland, Calif.-based Pandora Media Inc.在这个过程中，三星期望不光能与iTunes抗衡，还期望能与其他在线音乐流媒体服务较量，譬如瑞典的Spotify AB和加州奥克兰的Pandora Media Inc.。Earlier this year, Samsung moved mSpot into a new office with plans to double its staff by the end of 2013. Since then, however, the companys attempts to develop the product, initially called Samsung Music Hub, have foundered.今年早些时候，三星为mSpot安排了新办公室，计划在2013年底将它职员规模扩充一倍。不过此后三星开发起初名为Samsung Music Hub的有关商品的努力进展得并不顺利。
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