Among the markets that Apple hasn't quite been able to crack with their iPhone, China has to be the most frustrating. It's a huge opportunity that's being missed. And now we finally know exactly why.

在蘋果未能用iPhone搶占霸主地位的眾多市場中，不得不說，中國市場恐怕是其最為徹底的一次失敗。當然，失敗的可能性有很多，而現(xiàn)在我們終于找到失敗背后的真正原因。

Of course, the black market has always played a role, as have cheap and widely available knock-off products and increasingly tarnished supplier public image. But the real problem, according to a recent survey in the WSJ? Apple's feckless carrier partner, China Unicom.

的確，黑市交易對iPhone銷售影響不小，再加上廉價的山寨機隨處可見，同時供應廠家的公眾形象也受到損害。這些原因都在某一程度上導致了iPhone的失敗。但是根據(jù)WSJ的最新調(diào)查報告，其根本原因仍在于蘋果的承銷商--中國聯(lián)通能力不足。

Less than 10% of survey respondents—mobile users between 22 and 32—are signed up with China Unicom, and the majority of those that are self-identified as dissatisfied customers. Rival carrier China Mobile, however, was thought to be more reliable and to provide better coverage by 95% of those surveyed.

此調(diào)查報告指出，低于10%的調(diào)查對象（年齡在22與32之間的手機用戶）選擇與中國聯(lián)通簽約服務，并且其中大部分都對聯(lián)通的服務不滿意。而調(diào)查報告中，95%的調(diào)查對象認為，聯(lián)通的競爭對手--中國移動擁有更好的信號覆蓋率，服務質(zhì)量也更加可信。

There are other factors at play, of course; less wireless penetration in China than in the US, that black/gray market opportunity, the mandatory two-year contract. But—as Google learned, in part, with the Nexus One—important to remember the impact that a carrier can have on the fate of a phone, and that unpopular partners lead to unpopular products.

不過除此之外，還存在著其他的因素。例如：中國的無線覆蓋率遠低于美國；黑市與水貨市場交易猖獗；以及購買iPhone需強制性簽約（中國聯(lián)通）兩年服務不夠人性化。但是，正如谷歌在推出Nexus第一代中所吸取的教訓一樣，蘋果必須謹記：當?shù)爻袖N商的影響力甚至可以決定產(chǎn)品銷售的最終命運--營銷搭檔不受歡迎，產(chǎn)品就不能流行。