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For years, nearly all of the world's iPhones and iPads rolled off the assembly lines of a single company: Foxconn.
多年来，全球几乎所有iPhone和iPad都来自同一家公司的装配线。这家公司就是富士康(Foxconn)。
It was a famous partnership between two outsize personalities -- Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.'s intense and mercurial co-founder, and Terry Gou, the Taiwanese manufacturer's equally demanding chairman.
这是两位个性鲜明的人物达成的一项远近闻名的合作关系：一位是苹果(Apple Inc.)专注且脾气捉摸不定的联合创始人乔布斯(Steve Jobs)；另一位则是同样苛刻的富士康董事长郭台铭。
But under current Chief Executive Tim Cook, Apple is dividing its weight more equally with a relatively unknown supplier, giving the technology giant a greater supply-chain balance.
但在苹果现任首席执行长库克(Tim Cook)的领导下，苹果正将其业务更加公平地分包给另一家知名度较小的供应商。这家科技巨头的供应链因此变得更加平衡。
Pegatron Corp., named after the flying horse Pegasus, will be the primary assembler of a low-cost iPhone expected to be offered later this year. Foxconn's smaller rival across town became a minor producer of iPhones in 2011 and began making iPad Mini tablet computers last year.
和硕联合科技股份有限公司(Pegatron Corp.)将成为预计今年晚些时候推出的一款低价iPhone的主要组装企业。和硕的名字来源于希腊神话中的飞马珀伽索(Pegasus)。作为富士康的同城竞争对手，规模较小的和硕在2011年成为iPhone的次要制造商，并从去年开始生产iPad Mini平板电脑。
Pegatron's rise means an end to the monopoly that Foxconn Technology Group -- the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer -- has held over the production of Apple's mobile products.
和硕的崛起意味着富士康对苹果移动产品生产垄断的终结。富士康是全球最大的电子产品合同制造商鸿海精密工业股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)的商标名。
People familiar with the matter point to strategic reasons for the shift: risk diversification after Foxconn's manufacturing glitches last year with the iPhone 5 that resulted in scratches on the metal casings, and Apple's decision to expand its product lines amid growing competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and others.
知情人士指出了果进行上述转移的战略原因：去年富士康制造工艺存在缺陷导致iPhone 5的金属外壳出现划痕，苹果因此希望分散风险；来自三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)和其它厂家的竞争日益激烈，苹果决定扩大其产品线。
Pegatron also has been willing to accept thinner profits as it courts Apple's business, analysts said. The company declined to comment about its pricing.
分析师称，在试图争取苹果业务的同时，和硕也愿意接受更薄的利润。和硕拒绝对其定价置评。
Apple declined to comment.
苹果不予置评。
Foxconn's cost advantages from scale have waned as it works to improve factory conditions after a spate of high-profile worker suicides and accidents in recent years. Although Pegatron briefly caught the public eye in 2011 due to a factory explosion that injured dozens of workers, the smaller company has largely escaped the laserlike spotlight that has forced Foxconn to increase wages and make changes to its labor practices.
近年来，在发生了一系列备受瞩目的员工自杀和事故之后，为了改善工厂条件，富士康的规模成本优势已经减弱。虽然2011年旗下一家工厂爆炸导致数十名工人受伤曾在短时间内令和硕成为公众关注的焦点，但这家规模较小的企业在很大程度上躲过了一系列备受瞩目的事件。正是这些事件令富士康提高工资，并改变其涉及工人的种种做法。
Foxconn, in its growing heft as the world's largest electronics contract company, was also getting more difficult for Apple to control, with incidents such as changing component sourcing without notifying Apple, people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, Foxconn became frustrated with the growing complexity of Apple products, such as the iPhone 5, which is difficult to make in the volumes Apple needed.
知情人士说，作为全球最大的电子产品合同制造商，富士康的影响力越来越大，苹果也越来越难以控制这家企业。此前曾发生过富士康改变零部件采购来源却没有通知苹果等事件。与此同时，富士康对日益复杂的苹果产品感到不满。比如富士康的iPhone 5产量就难以满足苹果所需。
Executive changes at Apple have also made a difference. Mr. Jobs had been easier at forgiving his favorite manufacturing partner, according to several people familiar with the relationship. Now, instead of relying on the uniquely close partnership between 'two leaders with a hero complex' -- as one of the people said -- Mr. Cook is putting a greater premium on risk diversification, they said. Still, Mr. Cook and Mr. Gou have a strong relationship and have known each other even before Mr. Cook joined Apple in 1998, one of the people said.
苹果公司管理层变动对此也有影响。知情人士说，乔布斯更容易原谅他最喜欢的制造合作伙伴犯下的错误。上述人士说，如今，库克更为看重风险的分散，而不是依靠乔布斯和郭台铭“这两位同样看重英雄情结的商业领袖”（其中一位知情人士的原话）结下的独特的密切伙伴关系。尽管如此，其中一位知情人士说，库克和郭台铭的关系仍然非常牢固。早在库克1998年进入苹果公司之前，两人就已经相识。
But with its growing importance as an Apple supplier, Pegatron will likely also face growing scrutiny. The company declined to comment on whether it has made any changes to its labor practices after the 2011 factory explosion.
但随著作为苹果供应商的和硕的重要性日益显现，该公司也有可能面临越来越多的审视。在2011年工厂爆炸发生后，和硕对其是否改变了种种用工做法不予置评。
As with other contract manufacturers, Pegatron's success is based largely on secrecy and tact as it juggles production of competing products from companies such as Apple, Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. as well as Dell Inc.
就像其他合同制造商一样，在生产苹果、微软(Microsoft Corp.)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard Co.)以及戴尔(Dell Inc.)等公司相互竞争的产品的过程中，和硕的成功依靠的是保密和机变。
At its sleek headquarters on the outskirts of Taipei, engineers serving different clients eat lunch together in the same cafeteria and gather after hours in the gym, but they rarely know the details of each others' work. Sensitive projects are cordoned off by keycard access, or even face recognition software.
在台北郊区华丽的和硕总部大楼，为不同客户服务的工程师们中午在同一个食堂吃饭，下班后又聚集在健身房，但是他们很少知道彼此的具体工作内容。敏感项目一般由门禁系统甚至面部识别软件来把守。
While Pegatron migh seem to be a newcomer on the surface, the Taipei-based company's Apple ties run deep, with its earlier incarnation packaging Apple computers by candlelight more than a decade ago.
尽管从表面上看，和硕似乎是初来乍到，但这家台北公司与苹果有很深的渊源，早在10多年前，这家公司的前身曾在烛光下为苹果包装电脑。
Pegatron Senior Vice President Andy Tsai said that in 1999, the company he founded, Alpha-Top Technology Corp., landed the contract for Apple's first-generation iBooks. It wasn't the best first collaboration: a massive earthquake in Taiwan knocked out power and paralyzed production.
和硕的资深副总裁蔡进国表示，1999年，他创办的公司Alpha-Top Technology Corp.获得了苹果第一代iBook的生产合同。首次合作并不顺利：台湾的一次大地震导致工厂断电，生产陷入瘫痪。
'At that time, there were a lot of Apple people in my factory, telling us to find a solution,' said Mr. Tsai. 'I bought a lot of power generators, and we even used candles on the packing line.'
蔡进国说，当时我的工厂里有许多苹果的人，他们让我想出解决办法；我买了许多发电机，我们甚至在包装流水线上使用了蜡烛。
Alpha-Top managed to keep its Apple business, although orders tapered off after it was acquired by Asustek Computer Inc., which juggled its own competing brand and contract work. Asustek spun off its contract manufacturing business in 2010 into Pegatron under pressure from clients.
Alpha-Top得以保住了苹果的业务，不过，在被华硕电脑有限公司(Asustek Computer Inc.)收购之后，公司的订单逐渐减少。华硕在从事合同制造业务的同时也在竭力推出自己的同类品牌。在客户的压力之下，华硕2010年把合同制造业务剥离出来，成立了和硕。
Pegatron's revenue in the first quarter -- 219.1 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$7.4 billion) -- is dwarfed by Foxconn's NT$809.1 billion ($27.3 billion). The smaller company also has thinner operating margins: 0.8% compared with Foxconn's 1.7%.
和硕第一季度的营收为2,191亿新台币（约合74亿美元），远远低于富士康的8,091亿新台币（约合273亿美元）。由于规模较小，和硕的运营利润也较低，为0.8%，相比之下，富士康为1.7%。
Pegatron, which has about 100,000 employees in Taiwan and China, expects to increase its China workforce in the second half of the year by around 40%, Chief Financial Officer Charles Lin said. Analysts attribute the staffing increase largely to expected production of low-cost iPhones.
和硕的首席财务长林秋炭说，和硕在台湾和中国大陆总共拥有大约10万名员工，预计今年下半年公司在中国大陆的工人数量将增加大约40%。分析人士认为，和硕增加人手主要是因为公司预计将生产低成本的iPhone。
Pegatron began making iPad Minis last year, but some people familiar with the situation said low yield rates meant volume was lower than originally planned and Foxconn ended up taking on the bulk of the production.
和硕去年开始生产iPad Mini，但是一些知情人士说，由于和硕的生产效率较低，其产量赶不上最初的计划，最终富士康承担了大部分的生产任务。
'There's a learning curve for any new products, so our yield rates are increasing,' said Mr. Lin, although he declined to comment on any Apple products.
林秋炭说，生产任何新产品都需要一个学习的过程，我们的生产效率正在不断提高。不过他拒绝对任何苹果产品置评。
More than half of Pegatron's revenue in its consumer-electronics and communications businesses this year will be from Apple, said KGI Securities analyst Angela Hsiang. She expects Pegatron to make the majority of iPad Minis sold this year, as well as the majority of the coming less-costly iPhone.
凯基证券(KGI Securities)的分析师Angela Hsiang说，今年，和硕的消费电子和通信业务的营收中，来自苹果的将超过一半。她预计，今年销售的大部分iPad Mini以及大部分即将面市的低价iPhone都将由和硕生产。
Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing conceded the company is in the midst of a challenging period.
富士康的发言人邢治平承认，公司正处在一个充满挑战的时期。
'We are transforming the business and expanding in areas like e-commerce, ' Mr. Hsing said, without providing more specific details.
邢志平说，我们正在实施业务转型，在电子商务等领域进行扩张。他没有提供更多具体细节。
