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Nokia's deal to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft is not the first time a break-up of the Finnish group had been discussed.
诺基亚(Nokia)达成协议向微软(Microsoft)出售自己的手机业务，并不是这家芬兰企业首次讨论分拆。
In 1991, Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms equipment maker, proposed a takeover of Nokia, exploiting its rival's weakness after the suicide of its chief executive. However, the deal collapsed as Ericsson wanted to split up Nokia and not buy the consumer electronics arm.
1991年，瑞典电信设备制造商爱立信(Ericsson)曾向诺基亚发出收购要约，试图利用后者在首席执行官自杀后陷入的脆弱。但这项交易最终未能达成，因为爱立信希望将诺基亚分拆，并且不愿收购消费电子部门。
A decade later, it was ruing its decision as the Finnish group became the world's biggest maker of mobile phones while Ericsson struggled in the consumer market.
十年后，爱立信对自己当年的决定深感后悔，因为诺基亚那时已成为全球规模最大的手机生产商，而爱立信则在消费者市场苦苦挣扎。
Now the roles are reversed. Nokia this week has plumped to follow in its Swedish rival's footsteps by jettisoning its consumer devices and focusing instead on telecoms equipment after a big strategic debate.
现在双方的处境再次发生了逆转。诺基亚在经历了一场重大战略辩论之后，上周决定跟随爱立信的脚步，抛弃自己的消费者产品部门，转而专注于电信设备。
The move breathes new life into the fiercest rivalry in European technology. The two companies have continually looked across the Gulf of Bothnia – the waters dividing Sweden and Finland – to check what the other was doing.
此举再度激活了欧洲科技行业对抗最激烈的一对竞争关系。这两家公司一直隔着瑞典和芬兰之间的波的尼亚湾(Gulf of Bothnia)相互注视，看对方在做些什么。
“We always kept a close eye on Ericsson and what they were up to. Of course, we moved a long way ahead of them in mobiles and I guess they followed us closely,” says a former Nokia executive.
诺基亚一名前高管表示：“我们一直在密切关注爱立信的动向，以及他们的业务规划。当然，我们在手机领域远远领先于爱立信，我猜他们在紧跟我们的步伐。”
Ericsson has reaped the dividends of turning its back on the consumer sector with its shares up by a quarter in the past five years; even after Tuesday's 34 per cent jump, Nokia's shares are still down 71 per cent over the same period.
爱立信放弃消费者产品市场的决定已经收到了成效，该公司股价在过去五年里上涨了25%；而即使在周二暴涨34%以后，诺基亚在同期内的股价跌幅仍然达到了71%。
The Swedish company got out of mobile phones in 2011 when it sold its stake in the Sony Ericsson joint venture back to the Japanese group. Analysts say that it has become a more boring but reliable company.
爱立信于2011年退出了手机市场，当时该公司将其在合资企业索尼-爱立信(Sony Ericsson)所持股权出售给了索尼。分析师指出，此举使爱立信成为了一家沉闷但可靠的企业。
That is something that Nokia would like to emulate. “It's true they have had a more exciting past,” says Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia's chairman and acting chief executive.
而这正是诺基亚希望效仿的策略。诺基亚董事长兼临时首席执行官里斯托•斯拉斯玛(Risto Siilasmaa)表示：“爱立信的发展历程确实更加激动人心。”
He adds that the board has yet to discuss in detail the prospects for the new Nokia. “We honestly haven't travelled down that strategic path yet. So much attention has gone to devices and services and its future,” he says.
斯拉斯玛补充称，董事会尚未仔细讨论过新诺基亚的发展前景。他表示：“老实说，我们还未讨论过那方面的战略发展方向。迄今大量精力都集中于设备和服务业务及其未来。”
NSN, Nokia's telecoms equipment business, has gone through its own brutal journey. It has shed 17,000 workers in a deep restructuring in the past few years and is now Nokia's only profitable business as well as its biggest by sales.
诺基亚的电信设备业务——诺基亚西门子通信（简称NSN）已完成了艰难的调整过程。该部门在过去几年的深度重组中，裁减了17000名员工，现在是诺基亚唯一盈利、且销售额最高的部门。
