諾基亞或收購阿爾卡特朗訊無線業務

Nokia is in advanced talks to acquire Alcatel-Lucent’s wireless business, say people familiar with the matter.

知情人士表示，諾基亞(Nokia)正在就收購阿爾卡特-朗訊(Alcatel-Lucent)無線業務開展深入磋商。

The Finnish company’s move to acquire assets from its Franco-American rival highlights its return to growth and appetite to expand following the sale of its handset business to Microsoft a year ago.

這家芬蘭公司打算從其法美競爭對手處收購資產的舉措，凸顯出該公司在一年前將手機業務出售給微軟之後已迴歸增長，並想擴張自己的業務。

A deal would significantly boost Nokia’s market share in the wireless infrastructure business as Alcatel’s wireless unit generated about $5bn in revenues last year.

考慮到阿爾卡特無線部門去年的營收約爲50億美元，該交易或將大大提高諾基亞在無線基礎設施業務方面的市場份額。

Nokia is competing against China’s Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson for contracts to supply next generation mobile equipment to network operators. Huawei and Ericsson are neck and neck in the race to become the telecoms equipment industry’s biggest group by revenue.

目前，諾基亞正與中國的華爲(Huawei)及瑞典的愛立信(Ericsson)競爭網絡運營商的下一代移動設備供貨合同。在電信設備業營收最高集團的競爭方面，華爲和愛立信可謂並駕齊驅。

People briefed about the Nokia-Alcatel negotiations warned that although the talks were at an advanced stage a deal could still fall a part.

瞭解雙方磋商的知情人士警告說，儘管該磋商已處於深入談判階段，這一併購交易仍有可能失敗。

Nokia’s chief executive Rajeev Suri has predicted that the industry would in time be reduced to as few as three companies given the competitive pressures it faces.

諾基亞首席執行官拉傑夫•蘇里(Rajeev Suri)曾預計，考慮到電信設備行業的競爭壓力，該行業的企業數隨着時間的推移可能會減少至3家。

Alcatel, which has struggled since the merger of France’s Alcatel with US-based Lucent Technologies, is going through a lengthy restructuring process to turn round falling sales in its core markets in the US and Europe. The company, led by chief executive Michel Combes, has begun to improve its profitability amid deep cost-cutting.

自法國阿爾卡特(Alcatel)與美國朗訊科技(Lucent Technologies)合併以來，阿爾卡特朗訊一直處於困境之中。該公司正在開展漫長的重組，以扭轉其歐美核心市場銷售額的不斷下滑。目前，該公司在首席執行官米歇爾•庫姆斯(Michel Combes)的領導下，已開始通過大幅削減成本改善其盈利能力。

One person familiar with the two companies said the deal made strategic sense for Nokia as it would help strengthen its core business following the handset sale. Alcatel is also relatively strong in North America, a region where Nokia has only begun to make headway after recent deals with Sprint. Nokia is aiming to become the world’s mobile equipment specialist, while rivals such as Ericsson are branching out into other areas such as media services.

一名熟悉兩家公司的人士表示，該交易對諾基亞有戰略上的意義，因爲它將有助於諾基亞在手機業務出售後強化其核心業務。此外，相對來說阿爾卡特在北美的實力也很強，而諾基亞在該地區纔剛剛通過近期與Sprint的交易取得進展。

So far the Finnish company’s gamble on telecoms equipment is paying off. For the third quarter of last year it reported its first year-on-year sales increase in more than three years.

到目前爲止，諾基亞對電信設備產業的押注正在取得回報。去年第三季度，該公司報出逾三年來首次銷售額同比增長。

Shares in Nokia have risen nearly 45 per cent since the sale of its handset business was completed a year ago.

自一年前諾基亞轉讓其手機業務的交易完成以來，諾基亞股價已攀升近45%。