5大咸鱼翻身的高科技公司

Five technology companies that made successful comeback

5大咸鱼翻身的高科技公司

Michael Dell has his hands full trying to turnaround Dell, the company he founded and now plans to take private in a $24.4 billion buyout. Although still profitable, the business is slumping as customers shift to rival computer makers that offer cheaper prices. Dell's comeback plan—to push into business services and cloud computing—is still a work in progress.

迈克尔•戴尔正在忙着试图扭转戴尔公司（Dell）的颓势。他亲手创立了这家公司，现在正打算通过一笔244亿美元的交易把公司私有化。虽然公司目前仍在赢利，但由于客户大多流向那些能制造便宜机型的竞争对手，戴尔的业务因此日趋下滑。戴尔把复兴计划的希望寄托在商业服务和云计算上，但这方面的努力暂时未见成效。

If the turnaround effort is ultimately successful, Dell (DELL) will join a small club of technology companies that have been able to reverse their fortunes. It's a difficult feat. The technology industry moves at such a fast pace that staying still means being left behind. Companies that forget how to innovate usually have trouble relearning no matter how much executives tweak organizational charts, create new marketing slogans or "streamline" their workforce.

如果戴尔的复兴计划最终获得成功，它将成为屈指可数的几家成功扭亏为赢的科技公司中的一员。但这是一项艰巨的任务。科技业的发展速度太快了，原地踏步就意味着落后。如果有哪家企业忘记了创新的精髓，那么不管企业高管付出多少努力来重组企业结构，构思新的营销口号，还是“精简”劳动力，都很难再占

鳌头。

Apple (AAPL), on the brink of bankruptcy in the late-1990s, is the industry's biggest comeback story. (It is likely the biggest reversal of fortune in business history.) Steve Jobs, who had been purged in a boardroom dispute, returned and transformed the business into a money-making machine. I.B.M. (IBM) is another that reinvented itself, by refocusing on high-priced, high-margin products and services for corporate customers. Dell is essentially trying to follow I.B.M.'s example.

苹果公司（Apple）的复兴堪称科技业的经典，它可能也是商界历史上最伟大的扭亏为赢的例子。上世纪90年代末，苹果曾濒临破产。一度被逐出苹果董事会的史蒂夫• 乔布斯重新掌权，把公司变成了一台赚钱机器。IBM也是一个成功的例子，它把重点放在向企业客户提供高价格、高利润的产品和服务上，从而再次实现复兴。戴尔基本上就是在试图复制IBM的路子。

Of course, many technology companies try and fail in their comeback attempts—repeatedly, in some cases—like Yahoo (YHOO), AMD (AMD) and MySpace, the once-popular social network. Mismanagement, a lack of money and an unwillingness to adapt are typically to blame. Invariably, executives never lose hope. Investors have far less patience, however. Here's a recap of how some struggling technology companies, despite the odds, managed to make a comeback:

当然，许多科技公司的复兴之路都以失败告终，很多公司更是屡战屡败——比如一度热门的雅虎（Yahoo）、AMD和社交网络MySpace。通常这些公司失败的原因都离不开管理失误、缺乏资金和不愿意适应新环境等因素。一般来说，这些科技公司的高管们从来不会放弃希望，但投资人可没有那么多耐心。以下谨为大家列举几个成功扭转颓势的例子。

No. 1 Apple

第一名：苹果

Picturing Apple near bankruptcy is difficult given its strength today. But the company was indeed in trouble when Steve Jobs took over for a second time in 1997. Apple's computers no longer elicited the passion among consumers that they once did. Personal computers that relied on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows increasingly dominated the market. To cut costs and increase focus, Jobs eliminated a number of floundering products like the Newton personal digital assistant. More importantly, however, he pushed and prodded until Apple started innovating again with the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, MacBook and iPad. Consumers, of course, loved them all.

看着苹果今日的辉煌，我们很难想象当年它也有濒临破产的窘境。1979年，乔布斯第二次执掌苹果时，他接手的的确是一个千疮百孔的烂摊子。当时，苹果的电脑产品在消费者中已经失去了往日的号召力。安装微软（Microsoft）Windows系统的电脑越来越呈现独霸市场的趋势。为了削减成本，集中实力，乔布斯毙掉了一些苟延残喘的产品，比如个人电子助手Newton等。更重要的是，他一直在促进和推动公司进行创新，直到公司成功地研发了iPod、iTunes、iPhone、MacBook和iPad，这些产品也全都获得了消费者的宠爱。

No. 2 IBM

第二名：IBM

When Lou Gerstner, a former chief executive for RJR Nabisco, took the reins at I.B.M. in 1993, the company was slumping. Like many in his position, he cut jobs, killed products and sold assets. More importantly, he pushed the company into technology services. Today, it is the company's biggest business. It wasn't easy, however. It required reversing his predecessor's plan to break the company into more autonomous individual units. Doing so, he figured, would make it impossible for I.B.M. to be a one-stop shop for business technology, as it is today. Since Gerstner left, I.B.M. executives have continued making wise decisions. Selling off the personal computer unit in 2005 is at the top of the list. Doing so allowed I.B.M. to avoid the problems Dell faces today with having to compete in a declining, commodity-driven business.

1993年，PRJ Nabisco公司的前高管郭士纳入主IBM的时候，IBM正处于一蹶