Huawei Technologies Co. is considering the sale of a multibillion-dollar stake in its mobile-devices division to a foreign investor that could help the closely held Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker navigate the North American market, according to people familiar with the situation.
知情人士透露，华为技术有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.)正考虑将旗下移动设备部门价值数十亿美元的股份出售给一家能帮助其进入北美市场的外国投资者。
The sale, which could rank among the largest foreign investments in a Chinese company, is at an early stage, the people said. Later this month, Huawei plans to invite strategic investors and private-equity companies to make bids for a significant stake in the business, with a foreign investor possibly taking a majority shareholding in the business, these people said.
这起交易有望成为外资对中国企业的最大一笔投资。不过知情人士称，此项出售仍处于初级阶段。他们称，华为计划在本月晚些时候邀请战略投资者和私人资本运营公司竞购此项业务的一部分股份，甚至外资有可能持有多数股份。
For potential bidders, especially private-equity firms, the deal offers the rare opportunity to deploy a huge chunk of cash in a Chinese business and partner with one of China's most competitive companies.
对潜在竞购者，尤其是私人资本运营公司而言，这项交易提供了难得的将大笔现金投入中国企业、并与中国最具竞争力的公司之一结盟的机会。
The move by Huawei to team up with a player that can help link it into relationships with U.S. service providers comes after a collapsed $2.2 billion bid launched late last year by U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC -- which included Huawei as a minority shareholder -- to purchase 3Com Corp. of Marlborough, Massachusetts.
华为希望通过结盟关系帮助其加强同美国服务提供商的联系。去年下半年，美国私人资本运营公司Bain Capital Partners LLC试图同希望作为少数股东的华为联手以22亿美元收购3Com Corp.，但最终未能如愿。
That deal failed to pass a U.S. government vetting process for foreign investment in sensitive industries, because of 3Com's contracts with the U.S. government to provide security software. The deal foundered during a U.S. election year in which China has been criticized for currency manipulation, safety lapses in exports and human-rights abuses.
这项交易未能通过美国政府对外资投资于敏感行业的审查程序，原因是3Com同美国政府签有提供安全软件的协议。这项交易是在美国大选之年触礁的，而每逢美国大选，中国都会被指责存在汇率操纵、出口产品不够安全和不尊重人权等问题。
A sale of Huawei's assets to foreign investors as a route to the U.S. market should provoke far less political concern. Foreign companies have long done business in China, and the U.S. government has encouraged China to open more industries to American investors.
通过向外国投资者出售华为资产，以此作为进入美国市场的途径，由此带来的政治担忧将会大大降低。外国公司在中国开展业务由来已久，美国政府也鼓励中国向美国投资者开放更多行业。
While Huawei is perhaps best known for its network-equipment business, the company has also had increasing success selling cellphones and other mobile devices in recent years. It struck a deal with Vodafone Group PLC in 2006 to supply advanced third-generation, or 3G, handsets to the European wireless giant's customers, and in December Huawei announced its first cellphone for the U.S. market, in a deal with Dallas-based MetroPCS Communications Inc.
尽管华为的网络设备业务名气最大，但该公司近年来在手机和其他移动设备销售方面也成绩斐然。该公司在2006年同沃达丰空中通讯公司(Vodafone Group PLC)达成了向这家欧洲无线巨头的客户提供先进3G手机的协议。去年12月，华为同位于达拉斯的MetroPCS Communications Inc.达成交易，推出了第一款针对美国市场的手机。
Bringing in a foreign investor to help develop the business unit will raise additional capital for Huawei's expansion plans. The assets up for sale include Huawei's mobile-telephone-handset business, data cards inserted in laptops to connect to wireless networks and routers for home use, according to the people familiar with the situation. The company doesn't publicly release breakdowns of the revenues or profits of different divisions, but the people said that the division up for sale is profitable and that the sale isn't meant as an exit from the business.
引入外国投资者帮助发展这家业务子公司将为华为的扩张计划带来额外的资金。知情人士透露，准备出售的资产包括华为的移动和电话业务、笔记本电脑无线上网数据卡和家用路由器等。华为并未公布各部门的细分收入或利润数据；但据知情人士透露，计划出售的这些部门盈利状况良好，这一出售也并不意味着华为想要退出这一业务。
Huawei's plan comes as competitors have sought to split off such operations. In March, Motorola Inc., of Schaumburg, Illinois, announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies, to separate its troubled cellphone business from the rest of its operations. Lenovo Group Ltd. announced in January that it would offload its struggling handset business for $100 million to sharpen its focus on its core business of selling computers. Lenovo's handsets, which were sold primarily in mainland China, accounted for just 2% of the company's revenues, but Lenovo's handset shipments fell 31% in the third quarter, putting a strain on the company's more profitable businesses.
目前，华为的竞争对手也纷纷考虑分拆此类业务。今年3月，摩托罗拉公司(Motorola Inc.)宣布，计划将陷入困境的手机业务从其他业务中剥离，成为两家上市公司。联想集团(Lenovo Group Ltd.)今年1月份宣布，将以1亿美元出售表现不佳的手机业务，以将重心放在核心的电脑业务上。联想手机主要在中国大陆销售，仅占该公司收入的2%。但联想的手机发货量第三季度下降了31%，给该公司更为赢利的业务带来了压力。
Nokia Corp. of Finland last year merged its network-equipment business in a joint venture with Germany's Siemens AG, which had previously sold its cellphone business to Taiwan's BenQ Corp., now known as Qisda Corp.
芬兰的诺基亚(Nokia Corp.)去年将旗下的网络设备业务合并到了与德国西门子公司(Siemens AG)成立的合资公司中。西门子此前将旗下的手机业务出售给了台湾明基电通(BenQ)，后者现已更名为佳世达科技股份有限公司(Qisda Corp.)。
Huawei hopes it can make inroads into the U.S. market by offering low-cost cellphones to consumers, according to the people familiar with its thinking. That view is based on the belief that high-end consumers will gravitate toward sophisticated tools like Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry or Apple Inc.'s iPhone, while middle-market players will be squeezed.
了解华为想法的知情人士透露，这家少数人持股的中国电信设备制造商希望通过向消费者提供低价手机进入美国市场。这种想法的出发点是，高端消费者将会选择Research in Motion Ltd.的黑莓(BlackBerry)或苹果(Apple Inc.)的iPhone手机，而中端市场的公司将会被进一步压缩。
A number of other foreign carriers, including Japan's Sanyo Electric Co. and China's ZTE Corp., have successfully entered the U.S. market by making low-cost devices for U.S. wireless carriers and undercutting rival's prices.
包括日本的三洋电机(Sanyo Electric Co.)和中国的中兴通讯(ZTE Corp.)在内的众多海外企业都通过为美国无线运营商生产低成本设备和比竞争对手更低的价格成功打进了美国市场。
'This is not a new strategy, but it is an effective one for a newcomer,' says XJ Wang, vice president of Asia Pacific research at the Yankee Group. 'Low price is always attractive.'
Yankee Group亚太区研究副总裁王学军说，这不是新的策略，但对新来者却是一项有效的做法。低价总是具有吸引力的。
But mature wireless markets such as the U.S. are difficult for outsiders to crack. Subscriber growth rates have tapered off, and Americans tend to buy new phones less frequently than consumers in Asia. Sales of low-end phones that don't carry an established brand name represent only about 5% of U.S. cellphone sales, according to Yankee Group.
但美国这样的成熟无线市场让外来者难以找到突破口。订户增长率已开始下降，美国人也不像亚洲消费者那么频繁地更换手机。Yankee Group的数据显示，不属于知名品牌的低端手机只占美国手机总销量的5%左右。
The planned sale is by Huawei is an opportunity for global private-equity firms, which have raised massive funds for investment in Asia but have found it difficult to put that capital to use. Few Asian companies and governments are willing to sell control amid strong growth in the region.
华为计划中的出售交易对全球私人资本运营公司而言当属一个机会，他们筹集了巨额资金用于投资亚洲，但却难以找到理想的投资目标。在亚洲地区高速增长的背景下，几乎没有哪家亚洲公司或政府愿意出售股权。
China's government in particular has grown increasingly wary of allowing large investments by foreigners in sensitive segments of its economy. That wariness has grown after foreign banks reaped huge paper profits from investments in China's state banks made ahead of their initial public offerings.
中国政府尤其对允许外资大手笔投资于经济的敏感领域越来越谨慎。外资银行曾在中国国有银行首次公开募股(IPO)前购买这些银行的股权，并获得了巨大的账面利润，此后中国政府就对此变得格外慎重了。
Founded in 1988, Huawei has grown rapidly to become a major competitor to established network-equipment vendors like Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco Systems Inc. But the limited disclosure of the unlisted Chinese company and the military roots of its founder have continued to fuel suspicion it is closely tied to the Chinese government. But the company and some analysts have said those fears are unfounded.
成立于1988年的华为迅速崛起为阿尔卡特朗讯(Alcatel-Lucent)和思科系统(Cisco Systems Inc.)等老牌网络设备供应商的强敌。但这家非上市公司披露信息的有限性和创始人的军人出身仍不断引发人们对该公司与中国政府关系密切的猜测。不过华为和一些分析师都表示，这些担心是没有根据的。
With more than 68,000 employees world-wide, Huawei says it has sales in more than 100 countries.
华为称，在全球各地共拥有6.8万多名员工，产品销往100多个国家。
Huawei has hired Morgan Stanley to arrange the sale.
华为聘请了摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)作为此项交易的安排行。