苹果超越微软成为全球最大科技公司
Apple has overtaken Microsoft to become the largest technology company by market value， crowning a stunning corporate comeback．苹果（Apple）已完成了其令人惊叹的重返巅峰之旅——按市值计算，它已经超越微软（Microsoft），成为全球最大的科技公司。
After more than three decades of rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates， the founder of the iPad maker saw his company take the lead on Nasdaq．在与比尔?盖茨（Bill Gates）竟跑了30多年之后，史蒂夫?乔布斯（Steve Jobs）这位苹果公司创始人终于将他的公司送上了纳斯达克（Nasdaq）的顶峰位置。
When the New York markets closed on Wednesday， Apple was worth $222bn – short only of ExxonMobil． Microsoft was valued at $219bn．苹果公司的市值在周三纽约股市收市时达到2220亿美元，仅次于埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil），微软市值为2190亿美元。
The moment says much about how technology and business strategies are changing． But it is above all a triumph for a chief executive who has defied conventional wisdom and taken big risks in new industries with entrenched powers， overthrowing the establishment in the music and mobile phone businesses and staking out new ground．这一刻充分表明，科技与商业策略正在发生着巨变。不过，这首先还是一位挑战传统智慧、勇于承担巨大风险的首席执行官的胜利。乔布斯敢于进入新兴产业、打破根深蒂固的利益链、推翻音乐和手机行业的的固有权势，开辟出了一片崭新的天地。
Mr Jobs was punished for Apple’s early stumbles with his dismissal in 1985． He returned with the same determination to deliver a vertically integrated bundle of hardware and software but reined in wilder engineering ambitions．乔布斯也曾因为苹果公司早先的失利而受到惩罚，在1985年一度被解聘。他重返苹果公司时，依然带着要提供从软件到硬件纵向整合打包服务的决心，只是对工程技术的雄心有所收敛。
Mr Gates put his software in so many places that the US justice department for a time sought to break Microsoft apart．另一边，盖茨的微软软件应用是如此广泛，以至于美国司法部（US justice department）曾一度想方设法拆分微软。
Yet the men once went on double dates， indulging their fascination with each other．但他们也曾经携夫人一同出游，彼此不掩饰对对方的欣赏。
“Gates was recognised for being a great businessperson but wanted to be seen as visionary． Jobs was recognised as visionary but wanted to be seen as a great businessperson，” said Alan Deutschman， author of The Second Coming of Steve Jobs．“盖茨被公认为一位伟大的商人，但他渴望被视作一个有远见卓识的人；乔布斯被公认为具有远见卓识，却渴望被视作一位伟大的商人。”《史蒂夫?乔布斯复出记》（The Second Coming of Steve Jobs）的作者阿兰?多伊奇曼（Alan Deutschman）说。
“With Apple eclipsing Microsoft in market cap， it really is Steve Jobs’ proof that he’s a great businessperson and that he achieved what he always envied about Bill Gates．”
“随着苹果的市值超过微软，史蒂夫?乔布斯证明了他的确是一位伟大的商人，得到了一直以来都令他羡慕的比尔?盖茨所拥有的成就。
Apple’s most recent full－year revenue was $36．5bn， close to double the level of three years before but shy of Microsoft’s $58bn． But Apple’s profit margins are wider． Its net income has nearly trebled in three years to $5．7bn， while Microsoft’s profit has only inched forward．苹果公司最近宣布的全年收入为365亿美元，接近3年前的两倍，然而在微软580亿美元的收入面前还略显羞涩。不过，苹果的利润率更高。它的净利润在3年间几乎翻了3倍，达到57亿美元，而微软的净利润增长则非常缓慢。 |