The future of the tablet and PC is worrying

Apple CEO Tim Cook once compared a tablet-laptop combo to mashing up a refrigerator with a toaster. The resulting Frankenstein device would do an equally lousy job of chilling your food and warming it up. That was three years ago.

苹果公司CEO Tim Cook曾经将平板电脑与笔记本电脑的组合比作是冰箱和烤面包机的混搭。这个“弗兰肯斯坦”式的设备在制冷和加热方面同样差劲。说这些是三年前的事了。

Today, these tablet-laptop hybrids -- which blend the mobility and touchscreen friendliness of a tablet with the capabilities of a PC -- are on track to becoming the fastest-growing computing category.

目前，这些平板电脑和笔记本电脑的“合成品”，兼具平板电脑的移动性及触屏以及笔记本电脑的性能，正逐步成为发展最为迅速的计算机类型。

Sales of slate-style tablets are expected to fall 8 percent, according to a report from research firm Strategy Analytics. Sales in Apple’s iPad business, meanwhile, fell 18 percent year over year in its most recent quarter

调查研究公司策略分析公司在一篇报道中表示，预计平板电脑的销售额下降8%。同时，最近一个季度中，苹果iPad的销售额下降18%。

Larger phablets, such as Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus and the devices in Samsung’s Galaxy Note line, have become standard. And mobile software from companies like Microsoft, such as its Word document-editing application, have been tailored to work across devices. Samsung has even managed to re-energize the smartphone stylus as a must-have productivity tool.

一些大屏的平板手机，如苹果最新的iPhone6 Plus 以及三星Galaxy 系列手机，已经成为了标准。微软等公司开发的手机软件，如Word文档编辑应用等，能够在不同设备间使用。三星甚至重新改进了智能手机的触针，使其成为一项提高效率的必备工具。

These phablets have eaten into the market for standalone 7- and 8-inch tablets, like the 7.9-inch iPad Mini. Phablets haven’t eroded demand for larger 10-inch tablets, but those larger devices have their own hurdle: getting tablet owners to upgrade to newer versions.

这些平板手机已经向七八英寸平板电脑市场进军，像7.9英寸的苹果迷你平板。这些平板手机并没有影响大于10英寸的平板电脑市场，但那些较大的设备也面临一些障碍，即需要让平板电脑所有者更新至最新版本。

And then there’s the issue of how tablets have been sold. For starters, they’re expensive. An Apple iPad Air 2, with Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, but only 16GB of storage, costs $629. Boosting storage to 64GB will set you back $729. People who own tablets are just fine using the same one for four, five or even six years.

接下来便是平板电脑销售的问题。对刚起步的人来说，平板电脑很贵。一台能够连接Wifi及移动网络而只有16G内存的苹果iPad Air 2需要花费629美元。64G内存的则需要花费729美元。而人们使用同一台平板电脑的时间不过是四年、五年或者六年。

Apple recognizes the issue. "You do see people hold on to their iPad longer than their iPhone. We don’t know what the upgrade cycle will be for people," Cook told analysts last October.

苹果公司意识到这个问题。“人们使用iPad的时间确实比使用iPhone的时间长。我们不知道升级周期对人们来说到底意味者什么。”去年十月份时 Cook对分析员说道。

Cue the 2-in-1s. The devices can fulfill the needs of a tablet owner who wants a more-capable device, while appealing to laptop owners looking to replace an aging machine.

提示：进行二合一。二合一的设备既能满足平板电脑所有者对设备功能的需求，又能吸引笔记本电脑拥有者更换陈旧的机器。

Now tablet makers risk the same fate.

目前，平板电脑厂商的命运亦是如此。

"We’re just now reaching a point where that install base for tablets is up for refresh, and the jury is still out on whether people will refresh those devices," Shemoy said. "There is tension."

“目前我们面临的情况是这样：安装点有待更新，但还不确定人们会不会选择更新这些设备。” Shemoy说道，“这就是问题所在。”

Rumors are swirling that Apple this fall will introduce an even larger premium iPad, dubbed the iPad Pro, with a nearly 13-inch screen. That would pit the Pro directly against 2-in-1s and standard laptops.Apple has already introduced features in its annual software update, called iOS 9. The new version is scheduled for release sometime next month.

此外还有谣传称苹果公司今年秋天将推出一款更大的优质iPad，称作“iPad Pro”，该款iPad屏幕是13英寸。这就导致Pro将于二合一平板电脑以及标准型笔记本电脑展开竞争。苹果公司在其年度软件更新（iOS）中添加了新功能，预计新版本将于下个月发布。

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来源:China Daily爱语吧作者:邱灿