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Political tensions with China and Russia mean that US tech companies are facing protracted pressure in what had been two of their most promising growth markets, the chief executive of Cisco Systems has warned.
思科系统(Cisco Systems)首席执行官约翰•钱伯斯(John Chambers)警告说，美国与中国和俄罗斯的两国的政治紧张形势意味着，在这两个原本最有增长潜力的市场，美国高科技企业正面临长期压力。
“Until our countries get along better, we’re not going to see an improvement,” John Chambers said in an interview with the FT. Mr Chambers, who is due to step down in late July after 20 years at the helm, was speaking after the US networking company reported quarterly earnings showing a return to steady growth, driven mainly by sales at home.
在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，钱伯斯表示：“如果美国与这两个国家之间关系不能改善，就不会看到情况有所改善。”已在思科执掌20年帅印的钱伯斯将于今年7月底卸任。就在他发表这番讲话之前，这家美国网络公司刚刚报出季度盈利重返稳定增长，而这一增长主要由思科在美国国内的销售带动。
A collapse in IT demand in emerging markets has been one of the biggest headwinds for Cisco and other US tech companies in the past two years, as volatile economic conditions and political rivalry have contributed to a sharp pullback in spending. While some commentators initially claimed Cisco was more exposed than others, it quickly became clear that all American IT companies faced the same pressures, Mr Chambers said.
过去两年，对于思科及其他美国高科技企业来说，新兴市场对信息技术(IT)产品需求的下滑是它们遭遇的最大不利因素。这种局面的出现，是由于经济状况的波动及政治上的对抗令相关开支大大减少。钱伯斯表示，虽然最初部分评论人士曾声称思科受到这个问题的影响最大，很快人们就发现所有美国IT企业都面临着同样的压力。
The fall-off in demand coincided with a global backlash over revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about US surveillance. The disclosures, which included a photograph of US agents appearing to open a box of Cisco equipment while it was being shipped to a customer, fed fears about the existence of “back doors” and other vulnerabilities in US IT equipment and led to renewed efforts in China to promote local IT champions.
需求的减少，又赶上了美国国家安全局(NSA)前合同工爱德华•斯诺登(Edward Snowden)有关美国监控计划的爆料在全球产生的强烈反响。这些爆料中包括了一张美国特工似乎在打开一台正被运送给客户的思科设备的照片，它令人们愈发担心美国IT设备中到底留下了多少“后门”及其他漏洞，从而令中国再一次试图推销其国内IT领军品牌。
On Wednesday, Cisco reported that orders for its internet routers, switches and other equipment in China fell by 20 per cent during the latest quarter, contributing to an overall decline of 6 per cent in Bric countries. Other emerging market countries saw growth of 6 per cent at the same time, it added. While Cisco’s business in India is doing well and Brazil is suffering economically, political tensions are likely to continue to weigh on the outlook in China and Russia, Mr Chambers said.
周三，思科的报告称，上一季度该公司在华互联网路由器、交换机及其他设备的订单减少20%，致使思科在金砖国家的订单总体减少了6%。该公司补充说，同一时期内其他新兴市场国家则出现了6%的增长。钱伯斯表示，思科在印度的业务表现不错，而巴西正遭遇经济困境。而在中国和俄罗斯，政治压力则可能会继续影响思科的前景。
Despite the warning, Mr Chambers capped his stint as the longest-serving CEO of a big Silicon Valley company with a bullish projection, claiming that Cisco would feed its growth by taking sales from competitors in the coming years. Taking a shot at rivals like Juniper Networks, VMware and Hewlett-Packard, he predicted that the networking company would report record earnings and revenues in his last quarter at the helm at a time when “almost all of our large peers are seeing negative year-on-year numbers.”
虽然钱伯斯提出了上述警告，他还是以一种非常乐观的预期为自己作为一家硅谷大型企业CEO的漫长生涯做了总结。钱伯斯声称，思科会在随后几年，通过争夺竞争对手的销售份额获得增长。他还推测了瞻博网络(Juniper Networks)、威睿(VMware)及惠普(HP)这些竞争对手的情况，并预计在他任内最后一季度，思科会在这个“几乎所有我们的大型同行遭遇同比负增长”的时代，报出创纪录盈利及营收。
