????中國(guó)能否從制造業(yè)大國(guó)躍升為世界級(jí)創(chuàng)新者？

????太平洋兩岸已經(jīng)就這個(gè)問(wèn)題激辯多年。中國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人一直希望中國(guó)能夠跟隨日本和韓國(guó)的腳步，通過(guò)增強(qiáng)創(chuàng)新能力來(lái)推動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)。

????越來(lái)越多的跡象表明，至少就某些公司而言，答案或許是：“能”。

????上周三，聯(lián)想集團(tuán)(Lenovo)首席執(zhí)行官楊元慶在舊金山領(lǐng)取了以表彰創(chuàng)新著稱(chēng)的愛(ài)迪生成就獎(jiǎng)(Edison Achievement Award)。今年的另一位獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)呤翘厮估妱?dòng)汽車(chē)公司(Tesla)和Space X公司創(chuàng)始人埃隆?穆斯克。這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的昔日得主包括蘋(píng)果公司(Apple)的史蒂夫?喬布斯、高通公司(Qualcomm)的保羅?雅各布、福特汽車(chē)公司(Ford)的艾倫?穆拉利和艾迪歐公司(Ideo)的大衛(wèi)?凱利。

????愛(ài)迪生成就獎(jiǎng)由致力于推動(dòng)創(chuàng)新的非營(yíng)利機(jī)構(gòu)愛(ài)迪生國(guó)際(Edison Universe)頒發(fā)。要是沒(méi)有具體成就的支持，這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)也就沒(méi)有多大的意義。但聯(lián)想已經(jīng)成為一家全球性計(jì)算巨頭——聯(lián)想的個(gè)人電腦銷(xiāo)量位居全球之首，同時(shí)也是智能手機(jī)和平板電腦領(lǐng)域的有力競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者。從某種程度上說(shuō)，如此傲人的成就正是這家公司專(zhuān)注于創(chuàng)新的結(jié)果。

????受到表彰的是聯(lián)想，而不是其他中國(guó)公司，這應(yīng)該不是什么出人意料的事情?！敦?cái)富》雜志(Fortune)在去年發(fā)表的一篇關(guān)于聯(lián)想公司的特稿中寫(xiě)道，通過(guò)創(chuàng)新和敏銳的市場(chǎng)嗅覺(jué)，聯(lián)想隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備成為“中國(guó)第一家全球性消費(fèi)品牌?！辫b于聯(lián)想準(zhǔn)備收購(gòu)谷歌(Google)旗下的摩托羅拉移動(dòng)(Motorola)和IBM的低端服務(wù)器業(yè)務(wù)，這個(gè)預(yù)言似乎即將成為現(xiàn)實(shí)。今年早些時(shí)候宣布的這兩筆交易將顯著擴(kuò)大聯(lián)想在全球的足跡。

????“這是一份沉甸甸的榮譽(yù)，”楊元慶在接受《財(cái)富》采訪時(shí)說(shuō)。一如聯(lián)想等公司專(zhuān)利申請(qǐng)數(shù)量不斷增長(zhǎng)這類(lèi)指標(biāo)所反映的那樣，中國(guó)公司整體上已經(jīng)取得了長(zhǎng)足的進(jìn)步，這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)意味著這種進(jìn)步正在得到認(rèn)可。楊元慶說(shuō)，“我們正在從事大量的創(chuàng)新工作?！?/p>

????但創(chuàng)新和市場(chǎng)成功必須齊頭并進(jìn)，楊元慶說(shuō)?！皠?chuàng)新不只是為了得獎(jiǎng)，”他說(shuō)：“它必須影響每一個(gè)人。”

????就這層意義而言，為聯(lián)想贏得愛(ài)迪生獎(jiǎng)的兩款產(chǎn)品堪稱(chēng)博采眾長(zhǎng)的混合體。

????其中，Horizon系列是一款集多項(xiàng)功能于一身的臺(tái)式機(jī)。平放時(shí)，27英寸的屏幕就變?yōu)橐粋€(gè)全新設(shè)備——一款擁有自定義設(shè)計(jì)界面，允許多個(gè)用戶玩游戲，分享照片和協(xié)作的“桌面電腦”。楊元慶把它稱(chēng)為“人際互動(dòng)電腦”，希望它成為一個(gè)能夠把人們聚集在一起，而不是孤立開(kāi)來(lái)的屏幕。Horizon系列于去年推出，售價(jià)約1,700美元。它依然是一款小眾產(chǎn)品，但一位聯(lián)想高管表示，這款電腦的銷(xiāo)量已經(jīng)超出公司的預(yù)期。

????“一聽(tīng)說(shuō)有這種產(chǎn)品，許多客戶都會(huì)說(shuō)，‘哇，我真想擁有一臺(tái)，’”楊元慶說(shuō)?！暗恍业氖牵麄冞€沒(méi)有看到真機(jī)?！彼f(shuō)，聯(lián)想公司一直未能給予Horizon系列足夠的推廣和分銷(xiāo)資金，但這種狀況今年有望改變。

????聯(lián)想的另一款獲獎(jiǎng)產(chǎn)品是于去年10月份推出的Yoga平板。與傳統(tǒng)平板不同，Yoga的一側(cè)有一個(gè)凸起的圓柱體，置放于其中的電池大大延長(zhǎng)了它的續(xù)航能力。凸起部分也使得這款設(shè)備更易于單手持握，還可以幫助它以不同的傾斜度支撐起來(lái)。

????聯(lián)想并沒(méi)有披露各產(chǎn)品線的銷(xiāo)量明細(xì)，但楊元慶表示，聯(lián)想公司已經(jīng)售出了近200萬(wàn)臺(tái)Yoga平板。根據(jù)國(guó)際數(shù)據(jù)公司(IDC)發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)，這款產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)助推聯(lián)想成為全球第五大平板電腦制造商，僅次于蘋(píng)果、三星(Samsung)、亞馬遜(Amazon)和華碩(Asus)。楊元慶透露說(shuō)，Yoga平板在歐洲和新興市場(chǎng)的表現(xiàn)尤為出色。但由于上市時(shí)間過(guò)晚，它沒(méi)有趕在節(jié)日季之前搶占美國(guó)大塊市場(chǎng)。軟件和屏幕分辨率進(jìn)一步改進(jìn)的新版Yoga平板將于近期上市。

????憑借著Yoga平板系列（它的設(shè)計(jì)理念其實(shí)是基于更早前推出的一款大獲成功，同樣名為Yoga的可變形筆記本電腦）的傲人業(yè)績(jī)，聯(lián)想現(xiàn)已成為平板電腦和手機(jī)銷(xiāo)量增速最快的公司之一。平板電腦的銷(xiāo)量在去年第四季度飆漲了325%，盡管這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的基數(shù)相對(duì)較小。而在手機(jī)市場(chǎng)，根據(jù)國(guó)際數(shù)據(jù)公司(IDC)發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)，聯(lián)想公司已經(jīng)成為僅次于三星、蘋(píng)果和華為(Huawei)的全球第四大手機(jī)制造商，而且它的增長(zhǎng)勢(shì)頭也最為迅猛。楊元慶的野心是，就像聯(lián)想在個(gè)人電腦領(lǐng)域超越戴爾(Dell )和惠普(HP)一樣，在移動(dòng)設(shè)備領(lǐng)域，這家公司最終要超越三星和蘋(píng)果。

????收購(gòu)谷歌旗下的摩托羅拉移動(dòng)有助于聯(lián)想進(jìn)一步接近這個(gè)目標(biāo)。楊元慶對(duì)投資者許諾稱(chēng)，收購(gòu)?fù)瓿?到6個(gè)季度后，聯(lián)想將幫助年虧損額約10億美元的摩托羅拉扭虧為盈。

????楊元慶表示，他并不打算削減摩托羅拉移動(dòng)的員工數(shù)量，后者目前擁有約3,500名員工。他說(shuō)，聯(lián)想將通過(guò)在零部件采購(gòu)環(huán)節(jié)實(shí)現(xiàn)規(guī)模經(jīng)濟(jì)效應(yīng)，積極擴(kuò)展歐洲、美國(guó)和拉美市場(chǎng)，重新把摩托羅拉品牌引入中國(guó)等方式，顯著降低摩托羅拉移動(dòng)的支出占銷(xiāo)售收入比例。

????楊元慶不愿評(píng)論聯(lián)想就這兩宗大型并購(gòu)案與各國(guó)監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)正在進(jìn)行的磋商，但他希望這些會(huì)談能夠像最初的預(yù)期那樣，在今年年底前完成。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：葉寒

????Can China make the leap from manufacturing powerhouse to world-class innovator?

????The question has been hotly debated on both sides of the Pacific for years, as China's leaders have banked on the country's ability to prolong its growth by following in the footsteps of Japan and Korea.

????There are growing signs that, at least in some cases, the answer may be "yes."

????On Wednesday, Yuanqing Yang, the chief executive of Lenovo, was in San Francisco to receive the prestigious Edison Achievement Award for innovation. His fellow honoree this year was Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space X, and past award recipients include Apple's Steve Jobs, Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs, Ford's Alan Mulally and Ideo's David Kelley.

????The award, which is given out by the not-for-profit Edison Universe, an organization that promotes innovation, wouldn't mean much if it weren't backed by tangible results. But Lenovo has emerged as a global computing powerhouse -- the No. 1 seller of PCs and a serious contender in smartphones and tablets -- in part through a focus on innovation.

????That it was Lenovo, and not another Chinese company, being recognized should be no surprise. In a profile of the company last year, Fortune wrote that through innovation and market savvy Lenovo was poised to become "China's first global consumer brand." It's a prediction that seems ever closer to being borne out as Lenovo gets ready to acquire Google's Motorola unit and IBM's low-end server unit, two deals announced earlier this year that will greatly expand Lenovo's global footprint.

????"It's a great honor," Yang said in an interview with Fortune. The award represents recognition for the progress that Chinese companies as a whole have made, as reflected in indicators like the growing number of patents filed by companies like Lenovo, Yang said. "We are doing a lot of innovation work."

????But innovation and market success must go hand in hand, Yang said. "Innovation isn't just for getting awards," he says. "It must impact everybody."

????On that front, the two main products for Lenovo that earned it the Edison award have been a mixed bag.

????One of them, the Horizon, is a powerful all-in-one desktop PC with a 27-inch screen that when laid flat on a surface becomes an entirely new device -- a "table PC" with a custom designed interface that allows multiple users to play games, share photos, and collaborate. Yang calls it an "interpersonal PC" and hopes it will be a screen than brings people together rather than isolate them. The Horizon, introduced last year for about $1,700, has remained a niche product, though a Lenovo executive says it has surpassed the company's sales projections.

????"Many customers, when they see this kind of product, they just say, 'Wow, I really want to get that,'" Yang said. "But unfortunately, they haven't seen it." He says the company hasn't been able to spend enough to market and distribute the Horizon, but said that will likely change this year.

????Lenovo was also recognized for the Yoga Tablet, which it introduced in October. Unlike other tablets, which are flat, the Yoga has a cylindrical bulge on its side, which holds batteries that give it extended power. The bulge also makes it easier to hold in one hand, and to prop up in various positions.

????The company doesn't break out sales by product line, but Yang said Lenovo has sold close to 2 million Yoga tablets. That's helped to propel the company into fifth place in the global market for tablets, behind Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Asus, according to IDC. Yang said the tablet has done particularly well in Europe and emerging markets, but its introduction came too late to capture a large portion of market in the United States ahead of the holiday season. New versions of the Yoga, with improved software and screen resolution, will be released soon.

????With the Yoga tablet, which built on the success of an earlier convertible laptop also called Yoga, Lenovo is now one of the fastest-growing sellers of both tablets and phones. Tablet sales grew 325% in the fourth quarter, albeit from a small base. In phones, the company has emerged as the fourth-largest, and fastest-growing global maker, behind Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, according to IDC. Yang's ambition is to eventually surpass Samsung and Apple in mobile devices, just like Lenovo surpassed Dell and HP in PCs.

????The acquisition of Google's Motorola unit should help further that goal. Yang has promised investors that four to six quarters after the acquisition closes, Lenovo will turn Motorola, which is losing about $1 billion a year, into a profitable business.

????Yang said he does not plan to reduce headcount at Motorola, which has about 3,500 employees. He said he would reduce the ratio between sales and expenses significantly, as the company applies economies of scale to the purchase of components, and as it expands aggressively in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, and as it reintroduces the Motorola brand in China.

????Yang declined to comment on discussions with regulators around the world over its two large acquisitions, but said he hoped they would close, as initially forecast, before the end of the year.