小米CEO雷軍在北京的一次產品發布會上介紹小米手機。該公司90%以上的收入來自于智能手機銷售。

曾經紅得發紫的中國智能手機創業公司小米近來遭遇了銷量滑坡。不過昨天小米公司宣布，將自行生產用于智能手機的處理器芯片。這一決定究竟有多重要呢？

首先，此舉將使小米成為繼蘋果、三星和華為（這三家公司也握有全球最大的智能手機市場份額）之后，第四家有能力自產芯片的手機制造商。至于這一決定究竟能給手機市場帶來多大影響，則取決于你怎樣看待小米之前的發展路徑。

從2014年年底到現在，小米還沒有進行過任何新的融資。當時，它以高達450億美元的估值讓全球科技行業都嚇了一大跳。如果小米改在今天進行融資，它的估值可能要比這個數字低得多。2015年，小米的營收入表現平平，2016年的手機出貨量更是令人失望，小米干脆選擇了不披露去年的具體銷售數據。最近，小米在智能家居市場上的嘗試即便不說是失敗了，起碼看起來也非常令人失望。最近幾個月來，圍繞小米最值得注意的一則新聞，就是該公司知名度最高的一名國際高管雨果·巴拉從公司離職了，回國加盟了Facebook。

小米創始人雷軍在本周二的一場新聞發布會上表示：“對于行業內的任何一家公司來說，處理器芯片都是手機行業技術的制高點。”據稱小米只用兩年多的時間就做出了自研芯片。

雖然智能手機的處理器對于改善電池性能、提高運行速度和優化整體功能至關重要，但它們本身并不能拉動智能手機的銷量。小米一度憑借在線銷售模式和廉價的組件，超越了蘋果等競爭對手。但過去一年半的時間里，小米的本土競爭對手紛紛效仿這些策略，早已在中國市場取得了遙遙領先的優勢。

現在發布處理器對于小米來說或許已經為時已晚，很難再憑借更高的手機性能吸引新的“米粉”。第三季度，小米在中國市場的份額大幅下滑42%，排在Oppo、Vivo和華為之后，位居第四位。

小米在全球市場的競爭中也已經處于下風。小米曾經是市場份額排在第三位的智能手機廠商，如今卻被擠出了前五，被中國手機廠商華為取代。華為利用規模龐大的電信網絡業務，在全世界擴大智能手機銷售，獲得了重要的市場地位，取得了許多人心目中小米本應達到的成就。

當然，這款名為澎湃S1的小米處理器，在中國依舊廣受歡迎。據雷軍在周二表示，北京市政府給予了該項目財政支持，并且中國中央政府多年來也一直在推動建立本土的半導體產業。

但這款處理器對于其他市場的意義不大，在這些市場，小米依舊要面臨市場預期帶來的壓力。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun promotes his company’s smartphones at a product-release event in Beijing. Smartphones account for more than 90% of Xiaomi’s revenue.

Xiaomi, the formerly hot Chinese smartphone startup now struggling with declining sales, announced yesterday that it is manufacturing its own chipsets for phones. How important is this, really?

The move would let Xiaomi join the ranks of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei (which hold the world’s top three smartphone market share positions) as the only smartphone makers who create their own processors. But how much impact you think it will have probably depends on how you felt about Xiaomi’s chances before.

The company hasn’t raised new money since late 2014, when it shocked the world's tech community with a $45 billion valuation. If it were to raise money today, it would likely be at a far lower valuation. In 2015, Xiaomi’s revenue was flat, and in 2016 smartphone shipments were so disappointing the company chose not to release figures about them. A recent push into ‘smart’ household products looks disappointing if not doomed. And the most notable news surrounding the company over the last few months was the departure of one of its best-known employees, Hugo Barra, for Facebook.

Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun said at a press event Tuesday, “The ability to create its own chipsets is the pinnacle achievement for any smartphone company.” The Xiaomi processor had been in the works for just over two years.

While processors are important for optimizing battery performance, speed, and the overall function of a smartphone, they don’t by themselves drive sales of smartphones. And in its home country, Xiaomi is facing competitors who have leapfrogged past it over the past year and a half by copying the very model of online-selling and inexpensive components that Xiaomi once used to surpass rivals, including Apple.

In releasing its processor now, Xiaomi may be too late to win over new fans with the better performance of its smartphones. In China, Xiaomi’s market share plummeted during the third quarter by 42%, to rank fourth overall, behind Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei.

Its plan for worldwide relevance has also been sidelined. Once the third largest smartphone maker by market share, Xiaomi has fallen outside the top five, replaced by another Chinese maker, Huawei, which has used a massive telecom network business to expand smartphone sales around the world, gaining the market presence that many thought Xiaomi once might achieve.

Still, Xiaomi processor, called Surge S1, is being celebrated in China. Beijing’s local government supported it financially, Lei Jun said Tuesday, and China’s central government has for years pushed for the creation of an indigenous semiconductor industry.

But the processor means little to the rest of the world, where Xiaomi continues to struggle under the weight of expectations.