2018年经济学人 抖音腾讯之争(2)（在线收听）

In the first quarter of this year Tik Tok, an international version of Douyin that launched in late 2017,

今年第一季度，公司于2017年年末推出抖音国际版—Tik Tok，

became the world's most downloaded iPhone app, excluding games a rare feat for a Chinese social app.

成为全球下载量最多的iPhone app，除了游戏应用外，这样的火爆程度对于中国社交app而言，是非常罕见的。

It has done well in Indonesia and Thailand. At home it led app-store rankings from January to May.

国际版在印尼和泰国取得不错成绩。在国内，抖音在1月至5月的app商店排行中一直领先。

It claims to have a user base of 300m in China, more than Kuaishou, another short-video app in which Tencent has a stake.

抖音称其在中国拥有3亿用户，多过腾讯参股的另一个短视频app快手。

Its appeal has prompted Communist Party outfits to set up accounts, and, on one occasion, state censors to place restrictions on it.

其吸引力也引起了一些国家部门的注意，它们也注册了抖音账号。

All of which has provoked Tencent into providing a "defensive product", notes Xue Yu of IDC China, a consultancy.

咨询公司—国际数据公司的Xue Yu表示，这促使腾讯推出了一款“防御性产品”。

In April Tencent resuscitated its short-video app, Weishi, a year after closing it.

四月，在关闭一年后，腾讯重启其短视频app微视。

Its angst may stem from the fact that every firm wants "a top-of-mind app",

头条个人投资者、硅谷创业学校Y Combinator的Anu Hariharan表示，

says Anu Hariharan of Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley startup school, and a personal investor in Toutiao.

腾讯的焦虑或许来源于这样一个事实—每家公司都想要一个“人气第一的app”。

WeChat has hardly lost its oomph. A state agency recently reported that WeChat made up 34% of China's total mobile-data traffic in 2017.

微信仍未失去其魅力。国家机构近期报道称，2017年，微信占中国移动数据总流量的34%。

To advertise, Douyin still relies on users sharing its videos on WeChat's public feeds (hence its ire over the blocked videos).

为了宣传，抖音仍需要依赖用户在微信平台的朋友圈中分享其视频（所以该公司才因视频被屏蔽而动怒）。

Still, the share of time spent by Chinese mobile users on messaging slipped from 37% to 32% in the year to March, says QuestMobile,

QuestMobile表示，截至三月，中国移动用户在消息应用上花费的时间从37%下滑至32%，

while that spent on watching short-form video has risen from 1.5% to over 7%.

而花在观看短视频上的时间从1.5%增至7%。

Meanwhile, Douyin has introduced its own private-messaging function, further challenging WeChat.

同时，抖音推出了私信功能，进一步挑战了微信的地位。

In May, an eassy put out on WeChat by a former tech journalist lit up social media.

五月，一名前科技新闻工作者在微信上发表的一篇文章点爆社交媒体。

In "Tencent Doesn't Have a Dream" he argued that the firm had become chiefly an investment firm buying up other startups and had lost its innovative edge.

在《腾讯没有梦想》一文中，他争论称，腾讯已经成为了一家以投资为主的公司，收购其他创业公司，失去了其创新优势。

One bit of evidence was that by the time Tencent had registered Douyin's rise, its window for a counter-attack had all but closed.

证据之一就是当腾讯注意到抖音的火爆后，想反击却已没有机会了。

The naysayer claimed his treatise drew 1m views. Still, his readers all came to WeChat.

这位唱反调的作者称该文章浏量为100万。但是他的读者均来自微信。