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Nokia Corp.'s decision to sell its handset business to Microsoft Corp. and focus on wireless-network equipment is the Finnish company's latest attempt in its 148-year history to reinvent itself during a crisis. It also marks the effective end of a national champion and onetime global tech giant.
诺基亚公司(Nokia Corp.)决定将手机业务卖给微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)，转而聚焦无线网络设备。这不仅是这家拥有148年历史的芬兰公司在危机中重塑自我形象的最新尝试，也标志着诺基亚作为芬兰企业领袖和全球科技巨头生涯的终结。
'This is end of an era in Finland,' Jan Vapaavuori, the country's minister of economic affairs said Tuesday. The deal with Microsoft will have a 'mental effect,' he said, since Nokia long has been an important international brand with Finnish roots.
芬兰经济事务部部长瓦帕沃里(Jan Vapaavuori)周二说，这是芬兰一个时代的终结。他说，诺基亚与微软的这笔交易将产生“心理影响”，因为长期以来诺基亚一直是带有芬兰血统的国际重要品牌。
Founded in 1865, when engineer Fredrik Idestam set up a wood-pulp mill in southwestern Finland, Nokia has had a history of radical shifts in its business. The first was at the turn of the 20th century, when the company moved into making rubber boots and other products.
诺基亚1865年由工程师伊德斯坦(Fredrik Idestam)在芬兰西南部创立，最初是一家纸浆生产厂，之后经历了一系列业务上的剧变。第一个剧变发生在20世纪初，该公司开始生产橡胶靴和其它产品。
In 1967 the company merged with partner Finnish Cable Works, which had been developing radio telephones for the country's army. Nokia in the early 1980s went on to become one of the first players in the cellphone industry
1967年，诺基亚与合作伙伴芬兰电缆厂(Finnish Cable Works)合并，后者为芬兰军队研发无线电话。上世纪80年代初，诺基亚开始成为手机业最早的生产厂家之一。
It introduced the Mobira Senator car phone in 1982, only a year after the creation of the Nordic Mobile Telephone service, the world's first international cellular network.
1982年，诺基亚发布了车载电话Mobira Senator。在此之前，北欧移动电话(Nordic Mobile Telephone)服务问世仅一年时间，这也是世界上首个国际蜂窝网络。
Nokia unveiled its first hand-held phone in 1987, the Mobira Cityman, the same year that GSM was adopted as the European standard for mobile networks.
1987年，诺基亚推出了该公司第一部手持电话Mobira Cityman。同年，欧洲启用全球移动通讯系统(GSM)作为手机网络标准。
But Nokia ran into financial trouble at the end of the 1980s after acquiring unprofitable television-set factories in Europe.
但在收购了欧洲不赚钱的电视机生产厂后，诺基亚于上世纪80年底末陷入了财务困境。
In 1992 Jorma Ollila, a former Citibank executive, became chief executive and decided to focus on telecommunications. That worked-for a while. Nokia's success boosted its share price, and at its peak in 2000, the company was valued at 303 billion euros($400 billion at today's exchange rate).
1992年，花旗(Citibank)前高管奥利拉(Jorma Ollila)成为诺基亚首席执行长，决定带领诺基亚专注于电信业。此举在一段时间内奏效了。诺基亚的成功提振了公司股价。2000年，诺基亚红极一时，其估值曾达到3,030亿欧元（按现在的汇率计算是4,000亿美元）。
But misplaced bets would change Nokia's fortunes.
但错误押注会改变诺基亚的命运。
Nokia executives predicted that producing traditional cellphones would be unprofitable by 2000, so the company in the 1990s started spending billions of dollars to research mobile email, touch screens and faster wireless networks. Nokia introduced its first smartphone, the Nokia 9000, in 1996-more than a decade before the first iPhone was released.
诺基亚高管们预计，生产传统手机在2000年之前将变得无利可图，于是该公司在上世纪90年代开始花费数十亿美元研究手机邮件、触摸屏以及更快的无线网络。诺基亚于1996年推出了其第一款智能手机诺基亚9000(Nokia 9000)，比第一款iPhone早了十多年。
U.S. rival Motorola Inc. scored a world-wide hit with the thin Razr flip phones, however, and Nokia faced criticism from investors over its focus on high-end smartphones.
然而诺基亚的美国竞争对手摩托罗拉(Motorola Inc.)凭借轻薄的Razr翻盖手机在全球大获成功，诺基亚却面临着投资者对其专注于高端智能手机的抨击。
Former Nokia finance chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo took the helm from Mr. Ollila and merged Nokia's smartphone and basic-phone operations, with the result that the more-profitable basic-phone business started calling the shots. Returning to a focus on traditional phones, Nokia found itself at a disadvantage when the iPhone was unveiled in 2007. As Apple Inc.'s AAPL +0.28% phone gained popularity, Nokia tried to play catch-up.
前诺基亚首席财务长康培凯(Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo)接替奥利拉担任首席执行长，将诺基亚的智能手机与基础手机业务合并，结果是更为有利可图的基础手机业务开始发号施令。重新关注传统手机后，在2007年iPhone推出时，诺基亚发现自己处于不利地位。随着苹果(Apple Inc.)的手机越来越受欢迎，诺基亚试图迎头赶上。
Nokia's relationship with Microsoft began as Canadian Stephen Elop took the reins of the Finnish company in 2010 and decided to scrap the company's effort to revamp its aging Symbian operating system, opting instead for Microsoft's Windows platform. Nokia cut tens of thousands of jobs, sold its elaborate seaside headquarters in Espoo, Finland, and scaled back research and development, the company's onetime jewel. Last year the company closed its last remaining phone factory in Finland.
加拿大人埃洛普(Stephen Elop)于2010年掌控这家芬兰公司，并决定废弃公司试图改进老旧的塞班(Symbian)操作系统的举措，转而选择了微软的Windows平台，诺基亚与微软的合作由此开始。诺基亚削减了数万个职位，卖掉了在芬兰埃斯波(Espoo)精心建造的海滨总部，并缩减了该公司曾经引以为豪的研发。去年，该公司关闭了芬兰最后一家手机工厂。
Meanwhile, the handset business has struggled.
与此同时，其手机业务陷入困境。
While Nokia's flagship Lumia series has received good reviews, the company has failed to make a dent on its main competitors, Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. Nokia's second-quarter revenue from phone sales was less than 25% what it was in the first quarter of 2011, when Nokia's tie-up with Microsoft was announced.
虽然诺基亚的旗舰Lumia系列获得好评，但该公司没能对苹果和三星电子(Samsung Electronics)等主要竞争对手造成冲击。诺基亚第二季度手机销售收入还不到2011年一季度诺基亚宣布与微软合作时的25%。
Now, with the handset operation gone, what remains is network-gear business Nokia Solutions and Networks. Nokia bought Siemens AG's SIE.XE -0.51% stake in the operation, formerly Nokia Siemens Networks, this summer for about $2.2 billion. Nokia also has a business that provides maps to Microsoft Windows devices and in-car navigation systems.
现在，失去手机业务之后，剩下的是网络设备业务Nokia Solutions and Networks。诺基亚今年夏天以大约22亿美元收购了西门子(Siemens AG)在以前的诺基亚西门子通信公司(Nokia Siemens Networks)的股份。诺基亚还有一项业务是为微软的Windows设备和车内导航系统提供地图。
