SAY the words “Apple” and “China” to Westerners, and many will think of sweatshops. Campaigners have accused Foxconn, which makes most of Apple’s gizmos in mainland China, of overworking and underpaying its staff. Apple has promised to insist on better working conditions.
当西方人他们提到“苹果”和“中国”，许多人会联想到血汗工厂。作为苹果在中国大陆最大的代工厂，富士康因超负荷工作和拖欠员工工资而备受社会公众指责。苹果承诺坚持要求代工企业的工作环境符合一定标准。
Ask about Apple inside China, however, and you hear little but praise. It is one of the most admired brands in the Middle Kingdom. A survey last year by researchers at Stanford University found that iPad penetration was greater at an elite high school in Beijing than at one in Palo Alto, California. In the first quarter of this year Apple earned $7.9 billion in greater China, making it the firm’s second-biggest market (see chart). The latest iPad was launched on the mainland on July 20th.
但是，在中国提及苹果，你只会听到赞美。苹果在中国是最受大众推崇的品牌之一。斯坦福大学的研究人员在去年做的一项调查显示相比一所加利福尼亚州帕洛阿尔托城的一所重点中学的iPad拥有率，北京的一所同级别中学拥有比例高很多。苹果今年第一季度在中国的收入达到了79亿美元，使中国一跃成为它第二大市场（见图表）。最新iPad已在7月20日在中国大陆发售。

Apple’s latest results, announced on July 24th, were excellent by normal standards: global revenues for the most recent quarter were $35 billion, with a gross margin of nearly 43%. Amazingly, this was worse than investors expected, so Apple’s shares slipped by 4.3%. Analysts blamed weak demand in Europe, as well as purchases deferred because of rumours of a new iPhone launch.
按照常规，苹果在7月24日发布的最新结果表现极好：最近一季度的全球收益达到了350亿美元，将近有43%的净收入。令人惊讶的是，这个数值低于投资者预期数值，苹果股票价格因此跌了4.3%。分析师同时指责欧洲需求疲软和由新款iPhone手机发布谣言导致的购买延迟。
Sales in greater China fell to $5.7 billion, a plunge of 28% from the spectacular first quarter (when Apple launched the much-awaited iPhone 4S in the country). That was expected, however. More telling is that revenues rose by 48% year-on-year.
中国的销售额跌至57亿美元，相比第一季度惊人收入缩水28%（当时苹果在中国发售了期待已久的iPhone 4S）。但是人们预期到了这个结果。而更值得注意的是与去年同期相比收入却增长了48%。
Sales of smartphones (of all brands) in China are soaring: they rose by 288% in April, year-on-year, and for the first time outpaced the sales of dumbphones. Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank, estimates that 270m people in China can already afford Apple’s products, and that each year another 57m will be able to. Many Chinese are desperate for its gadgets. This year a boy from Anhui, one of China’s poorest provinces, reportedly sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and iPad.
智能手机（所有品牌）在中国的销量势如破竹：与去年同期相比在4月份增长了288%，并且第一次超越了非智能手机的销量。根据一家投资银行Sanford C. Bernstein估计有2.7亿中国人有能力购买苹果产品，并且这个人数将每年增长5700万人。许多中国人痴迷于苹果产品。据报道，在中国最贫穷的省份之一的安徽省，今年有一个男孩儿为了买iPhone和iPad而卖掉自己一颗肾。
Apple’s sales could also get a boost from another quarter. China Mobile, which counts two-thirds of China’s 1 billion mobile subscribers as customers, does not yet officially offer Apple products. “To go big in China, Apple must get a deal with China Mobile,” says C.K. Lu of Gartner, a market-research firm. Rumours suggest such a deal may be in the offing.
在下一季度，苹果的销量可能还会有提高。坐拥中国10亿手机用户的三分之二的中国移动公司还未正式支持苹果产品。一家咨询公司高德纳的陆C.K（音）说“为了在中国大展宏图，苹果必须与中国移动公司达成合作。”有传闻称这份协议正在协商。
In short, Apple’s products are selling fast and likely to sell even faster. Some predict that China will overtake America to become Apple’s largest market within a few years.
总之，苹果产品销售地非常快，可能还会更快。一些人预计中国未来几年内将超越美国成为苹果全球最大的市场。
Hang on a minute, though. The Chinese market is strewn with landmines, such as an unpredictable intellectual-property system. Apple’s recent tablet launch was held up for ages because of a lawsuit filed by Proview, a bankrupt Chinese firm that claimed to own the mainland rights to the iPad name.
但是，稍安勿躁。中国市场到处有类似不可预测的知识产权系统的陷阱。由于破产的中国的公司唯冠要求拥有iPad商标在中国内地的所有权而申请的诉讼案，使得苹果将其最新平板电脑在内地的发售时间推迟了很久。