中国"小米神话"将向海外市场进军

Xiaomi Inc., the startup that has rattled China's smartphone market with its fast-selling handsets, is looking to tap its international fan base for help as it tries to expand abroad, according to its new American executive.
小米(Xiaomi Inc.)全球副总裁巴拉(Hugo Barra)表示，公司寻求藉助海外粉丝的力量实现海外扩张。作为初创企业，小米已凭藉迅猛的手机销量在中国智能手机市场异军突起。

Xiaomi Global Vice President Hugo Barra, the former Google Inc. official who joined the Chinese company in October, said the smartphone maker--which in recent months began selling phones in Hong Kong and Taiwan--will likely next begin sales in Southeast Asia, though he didn't give a time frame.
这位谷歌(Google Inc.)前高管于今年10月份加入小米。他表示，小米下一步可能开始在东南亚市场进行销售，不过他并未给出一个时间表。最近几个月，小米已经开始在香港和台湾销售手机。

Xiaomi plans to make use of its fans in other markets to popularize its phones and overcome language and border barriers, Mr. Barra said. 'We have fans everywhere,' Mr. Barra said in an interview, his first with foreign media in China. 'We're on a mission. We want to have an impact in the world.'
巴拉称，小米计划藉助其他市场的粉丝力量来推广旗下手机并克服语言和国界障碍。他在中国首次接受外媒采访时称，小米在全球各地都有粉丝，公司肩负使命，希望能在全球发挥影响力。

Started in 2010 by Chinese entrepreneur Lei Jun, closely held Xiaomi sells high-end phones for prices close to cost. Its flagship Mi 3 phone costs $326, less than half the price of top models from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Xiaomi, which is worth $10 billion according to its most recent round of fundraising, expects to sell about 20 million handsets in 2013.
中国企业家雷军于2010年创立了小米，以接近成本的价格销售高端手机。该公司旗舰产品小米手机3 (Mi 3)的价格为326美元，较苹果公司(Apple Inc.)和三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)的高端手机价格低了超过50%。根据最近一轮融资的信息，小米估值达到了100亿美元。该公司预计今年将售出约2,000万部手机。

Xiaomi's operating platform--currently available in English and Chinese--can be downloaded onto computers world-wide, enabling tech enthusiasts to experience Xiaomi's interface without owning one of its phones.
小米操作平台可在全球范围内的电脑下载，没有使用小米手机的科技发烧友也可以体验产品界面。目前小米操作平台支持英语和中文两种语言。

To cultivate a fan base, Xiaomi gives its users and fans direct input into what features and updates it adds to its operating platform, which runs on top of Google's Android operating system. It updates its software weekly, free of charge.
为培育粉丝群体，小米允许用户和粉丝直接参与其操作平台的新增功能和更新。小米每周都会更新软件，软件是免费的。小米的操作平台是基于谷歌安卓(Android)操作系统上开发的。

The model has won the company more than five million registered users on its Chinese forum and more than 100,000 on its English forum, according to Mr. Barra, who said Xiaomi has forums in 21 countries outside China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Its dedicated users report bugs, offer suggestions for new features and translate its software into other local languages available in unofficial versions.
巴拉称，上述模式为公司在旗下中文论坛上争取到了超过500万名注册用户，在旗下英文论坛上争取到了超过10万名注册用户。巴拉还称，小米在中国大陆、台湾和香港以外的21个国家都有论坛。这些乐于奉献的用户报告系统缺陷，提供有关新特性的建议，并将其软件翻译成其他语言并移植到非官方版本。

Mr. Barra said the process is a powerful tool to attract users. Followers in other countries 'are also the first people that are going to purchase a Xiaomi product when it's available in their country and get the word out and be brand ambassadors,' he said.
巴拉称，上述机制是一种吸引用户的有力工具。他称，其他国家的粉丝也就是那些会在小米产品于当地上市时购买产品、帮助小米宣传并充当品牌大使的第一批人。

Analyst have wondered whether Xiaomi's crowdsourcing of input will be as effective outside China, where the company is relatively unknown. In recent months it began selling handsets in Hong Kong and Taiwan--new markets, but where its Chinese-language services already have a ready audience.
一些分析师考虑，小米在手机输入法上采取的“众包”模式是否也会在中国以外起到同样效果，因为该公司在中国以外的名气还相对较小。近几个月来，小米已经开始在香港和台湾发售手机，这是两个新市场，但该公司的中文服务早就已经在这些新市场吸引了一些关注者。

'They will probably not be able to have as many Xiaomi fans as they do in Taiwan and China, so the hope is just being cheap' will attract customers, said Forrester analyst Bryan Wang.
福里斯特研究公司(Forrester)分析师Bryan Wang称，小米可能无法再获得与台湾和中国大陆一样多的粉丝，因此只能寄希望于通过低价吸引客户。