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Software maker Microsoft Corp is selling about 1,500 of its patents to Chinese cellphone maker Xiaomi, a rare departure for the US company and part of what the two companies say is the start of a long-term partnership.
日前，美国软件制造商微软公司将向中国手机生产商小米出售约1500项专利。此举对微软而言十分罕见，两家公司表示，这是双方开启长期合作的部分举措。
The deal also includes a patent cross-licensing arrangement and a commitment by Xiaomi to install copies of Microsoft software, including Office and Skype, on its phones and tablets.
这项交易还包括一项专利交叉授权协议以及小米在其手机和平板电脑上安装Office和Skype等微软软件副本的承诺。
Both companies declined to discuss financial terms of the deal.
两家公司都拒绝谈论关于这项交易的财务条款。
"This is a very big collaboration agreement between the two companies," Wang Xiang, senior vice president at Xiaomi, said by telephone ahead of the deal.
小米公司高级副总裁王翔在电话中谈论这笔交易时表示：“这是两家公司之间的一个非常大的合作协议。”
Experts say the patent deal paves the way for the Chinese firm to sell its handsets in Western markets. Microsoft will benefit from the fact that some of its Android apps - including Office and Skype - will now be pre-installed on Xiaomi devices.
有专家表示，此次购买微软专利给这家中国公司在西方市场销售手机铺平了道路。而微软方面也将会受益。微软旗下的部分安卓应用程序（包括Office和Skype）将被预装在小米手机上。
The announcement comes at a time when Xiaomi has been struggling to meet sales targets. The Beijing-based company originally set itself a target of selling 100 million smartphones in 2015. But it managed to sell only 71 million, partly because of increased competition from domestic rivals.
这一购买协议宣布得非常及时，目前小米正在为难以达到销售目标而头疼。这家总部位于北京的公司本来将其2015年的销售目标定为1亿台手机。但是最终只卖出了7100万台手机，部分原因是因为来自国内厂商更加激烈的竞争。
Oppo and Vivo overtook Xiaomi in phone shipments in the first three months of 2016, while Huawei extended its lead, according to research firm IDC. That pushed Xiaomi down to seventh place in global market share. It had been ranked third in 2014.
据调研公司IDC透露，2016年前3个月，Oppo和Vivo手机出货量都超过了小米，而华为则扩大了自己的领先优势。这使得小米的全球市场份额下跌到了第7位。小米在2014年的市场份额曾达到了全球第三位。
Wang Xiang said the acquisition of Microsoft patents, which included voice communications, multimedia and cloud computing, on top of some 3,700 patents the company filed last year, was "an important step forwards to support our expansion internationally."
王翔表示，购买语音通讯、多媒体和云计算等微软专利，再加上该公司去年申请的约3700项专利，是"支持小米开展国际性扩张的重要一步"。
Microsoft has recently made moves to scale back its handset operations, cutting jobs in its smartphone division and selling its Nokia-branded feature phone business. However, under chief executive Satya Nadella's leadership it has tried to encourage use of its products on non-Windows handsets.
微软最近收缩了其手机业务，在智能手机部门进行了裁员，并且出售了诺基亚品牌的功能手机业务。不过，在CEO塞雅·纳德拉的领导下，微软正试图鼓励在非Windows系统手机中使用他们的产品。
