When people hear about China's Huawei Technologies, German car maker BMW probably never comes to mind.
谈起中国的华为技术有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.),人们一般不会想到德国的宝马汽车公司(Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, BMW, 简称:宝马)。
But according to Ren Zhengfei, Huawei's founder and chief executive, there are similarities between the two companies.
但华为创始人兼首席执行长任正非认为这两家公司有着相似之处。
In Huawei's latest annual report released this week, Ren says the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker's challenges are similar to those of BMW as the luxury car maker takes on nimble new competitors like Tesla Motors.
在本周发布的华为最新年报中,任正非说华为作为移动通讯设备供应商所面临的挑战,相似于宝马面对的来自特斯拉(Tesla Motors Inc.)这样灵活的竞争对手的挑战。
'Can BMW match Tesla's pace? This has been an issue of debate for some time at Huawei,' says Ren. 'Most believe that Tesla vehicles represent a disruptive innovation and will surpass BMWs. I think that BMW may not lose the game if they take an open approach to improve themselves.'
任正非在CEO致辞中说:“宝马追不追得上特斯拉,一段时间是我们公司内部争辩的一个问题。多数人都认为特斯拉这种颠覆式创新会超越宝马,我支持宝马不断地改进自己、开放自己,宝马也能学习特斯拉的。”
He even has a piece of advice: 'BMW needs success, not a narrow sense of pride that everything has to come through its own innovation.'
他甚至还给了条建议:“宝马需要的是成功,而不是自主创新的狭隘自豪。”
A spokesman for BMW in China couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
笔者尚无法与宝马驻中国的发言人取得联系就此置评。
'Huawei is like BMW, in that we are also a big company. We live in an information society that is fast-changing with lots of disruptive innovations,' Ren says. 'Can we continue to survive? Admit it or not, this is a question right in front of us.'
任正非说,华为也就是一个“宝马”(大公司代名词),在瞬息万变,不断涌现颠覆性创新的信息社会中,华为能不能继续生存下来?不管你怎么想,这是一个摆在你面前的问题。
As Ren rarely makes public appearances, the annual report represents one of few occasions in which he shares his views on Huawei and the industry. Ren founded Huawei in 1987 as a telecom gear sales agent and the Shenzhen-based company soon started making its own products. Over the past decade, Huawei has rapidly expanded outside China to became the world's second-largest telecom equipment supplier only behind Sweden's Ericsson.
由于任正非很少公开露面,他在年会上的讲话就是他分享自己对华为和行业看法的少数机会之一。任正非1987年在深圳创立华为,当时华为还是一家电信设备销售代理商,但很快就开始生产自己的产品。过去10年中,华为在海外迅速扩张,成为世界第二大电信设备供应商,仅次于瑞典的爱立信(Ericsson)。
While there may be similarities between the challenges facing Huawei and BMW, the Chinese company is also coping with more unique problems, especially in the U.S. In 2012, a U.S. congressional report recommended that U.S. telecom carriers avoid using Huawei's equipment, saying that the Chinese company's gear could be used by Beijing to spy on Americans. Although Huawei has repeatedly denied such allegations, the company has been effectively shut out of the U.S. telecom-equipment market.
虽然华为和宝马面临的挑战有许多相似之处,但华为还面临着许多更为独特的问题,尤其在美国。2012年,美国国会的一份报告建议美国电信运营商避免采用华为的设备,说这家中国公司的设备可能被中国政府用于对美国进行间谍活动。虽然华为一再否认这类指控,但它事实上已被拒于美国电信设备市场之外。
Even so, Ren portrays the U.S. in a positive light in his message.
尽管如此,任正非在讲话中仍然对美国进行了正面评价。
'We must be conscious of the power of the United States. They have advanced systems, flexible mechanisms, clear property rights, and respect and protection of individual rights,' Ren says, adding that those qualities have helped the U.S attract the world's best talent. 'The light that never goes out in the Silicon Valley continues to shine.'
他说,我们要正视美国的强大,它先进的制度、灵活的机制、明确清晰的财产权、对个人权利的尊重与保障,这种良好的商业生态环境,吸引了全世界的优秀人才。他说,硅谷那盏不灭的灯,仍然在光芒四射
Ren also gives Tesla a shout-out: 'The U.S. is not lagging behind; it is still a model for us to learn from. Isn't Tesla a good example?'
任正非还提到了特斯拉:美国并没落后,它仍然是我们学习的榜样,特斯拉不就是例子吗?