经济学人下载:微软和英特尔各觅新欢

Microsoft and Intel
微软和英特尔

Wintel swings
微软和英特尔各觅新欢

The marriage that dominated personal computing becomes more open
强强联姻主导个人电脑市场之势日趋明朗

Sep 17th 2011 | from the print edition

TOGETHER Microsoft, the maker of the Windows operating system, and Intel, the world’s biggest maker of semiconductors, used to rule the world of personal computing. Now that new computers are as likely to sit in people’s hands as on their desks or laps, life for the Wintel couple is less comfy. On September 13th, at their annual conferences for software developers, both claimed to have found new zest—not least from dallying with other partners.

微软（Windows操作系统的开发者）和英特尔（世界最大的半导体制造商），曾联手统治了个人电脑市场。然时代变迁，如今的电脑已不再局限于放在桌上、膝上，还能持于手上。于是乎，微软和英特尔这两口子也开始心猿意马。就在9月13号，一年一度的软件开发大会上，两口子都宣布已有了新的对象——不仅仅只是和别人眉目传情、暗送秋波了。

Gartner, a research and consulting firm, expects that this year only 3.8% more laptop and desktop PCs will be shipped than in 2010. That is partly because people have tightened their belts, but also because they are snapping up tablets and smartphones. Both Microsoft and Intel have struggled to adjust. The phone version of Windows has had good reviews but was installed in only 1.6% of smartphones sold in the second quarter; Google’s mobile operating system, Android, scooped 43%. Windows’ share of tablets is minuscule. And in markets where battery life is prized, economical chips designed by ARM, a British company, have made the running. Intel has made virtually no impression in tablets and none at all in smartphones.

研究与顾问咨询公司高德纳预计，今年的笔记本和台式个人电脑的发货量较2010年顶多增长3.8%。这里面部分是因为现在的人都在拉紧裤腰带生活，但也有部分原因是他们都去抢购平板电脑和智能手机了。对此，微软和英特尔都是心急如焚，急于转变。Windows手机综合测评不错，但第二季度只有售出的智能手机只有1.6%是安装其操作系统。而谷歌的安卓操作系统却抱走了43%的市场份额。在平板电脑市场Windows所占份额更可谓是芝麻粒豆。再者，在如今这个极其重视电池续航能力的市场情况下，节能型芯片可谓是前景广阔，而英国ARM公司在这方面已是先拔头筹。可怜的英特尔对平板电脑市场几无影响，对智能手机更是无比汗颜。

Both firms boasted this week of liaisons with others. Intel and Google said that future versions of Android would be tuned for Atom, Intel’s family of low-power processors. Phones with Intel inside should be on sale in the first half of next year. Microsoft showed off the next version of its operating system, code-named Windows 8, using ARM chips. It wants to reassure the army of developers who write programs to run in Windows that these will be just as reliable as Intel’s.

本周，微软和英特尔都在高调宣传他们的新感情生活。英特尔和谷歌结了姻，英特尔家族的节能处理器凌动未来将会和安卓系统合体，预计将会于明年上半年诞生。另一方面，微软则看上了ARM，并对他们的后代表示出极高的自信，冠以Windows 8的美名。微软此举也就是想消除那些开发Windows系统软件的人们的疑虑，表明此产物会如与因特尔所产的那样稳定可靠。