The long, bumpy road to the Apple Car
New York (CNN Business)For such a secretive company, Apple's car efforts have been in plain sight for years.
紐約（CNN商業）對於這樣一家隱秘的公司來說，蘋果汽車的努力多年來一直是明擺著的。
The headlines have been steady: prominent auto industry poaches, one approved car patent after another, sightings of mysterious self-driving cars around its Cupertino, California, headquarters, and most recently, widely reported talks of a multi-billion dollar partnership to build an autonomous electric car with Hyundai and Kia.
頭條新聞一直是穩定的：著名的汽車行業偷獵，一個又一個獲批的汽車專利，在其總部加州庫比蒂諾（Cupertino）附近看到神秘的自動駕駛汽車，以及最近廣泛報導的關於與現代（Hyundai）和起亞（Kia）建立數十億美元合作夥伴關係以製造自主電動汽車的會談。
But this month, just as the rumor mill was reaching a fever pitch over the partnership reports,Apple (AAPL) appeared to pump the brakes on the deal after Hyundai prematurely revealed discussions were underway, according to Bloomberg. As an internal saying goes, the fastest way to not work with Apple is to talk about working with Apple. (Hyundai and Kia said this week they are not in talks with Apple to develop self-driving cars.)
但據彭博社（Bloomberg）報導，就在本月，就在傳聞工廠因合作報告而達到狂熱程度之際，現代汽車（Hyundai）過早地披露了正在進行的討論之後，蘋果（Apple）似乎對這筆交易踩了剎車。正如一句內部諺語所說，不與蘋果合作最快的方式就是談論與蘋果合作。（現代（Hyundai）和起亞（Kia）本周表示，他們沒有與蘋果就開發自動駕駛汽車進行談判。）
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Even by Apple's standards of long-rumored products, the Apple Car has been longer rumored than most. Alongside the hype are apparent setbacks: In 2016, it "scaled back" its ambitions followed by more layoffs a few years later; meanwhile automakers and tech rivals continue to move forward with their projects.
即使按照蘋果公司對傳聞已久的產品的標準，蘋果汽車的傳聞時間也比大多數產品要長。除了炒作之外，還有明顯的挫折：2016年，它「縮減」了雄心壯志，幾年後又進行了更多裁員；與此同時，汽車製造商和科技競爭對手繼續推進他們的項目。
And now, with its latest potential partnership appearing to unravel, there are new questions about which carmakers are left for Apple to work with on the effort, if it still plans to move forward. Japan's Nissan, (NSANY) one of a handful of possible partners touted by analysts, said Monday it was not in talks with Apple after the Financial Times reported that the companies had held brief discussions in recent months about a tie-up.
而現在，隨著其最新的潛在合作關係似乎瓦解，有新的問題，哪些汽車製造商是留給蘋果的努力，如果它仍然計劃向前邁進。日本日產（Nissan）周一表示，在《金融時報》（Financial Times）報導稱，兩家公司近幾個月就合作事宜進行了簡短討論後，該公司沒有與蘋果進行談判。
All of it has contributed to the feeling that the Apple Car is always arriving but never quite here.
所有這些都讓人覺得蘋果的車總是來了，但從來沒有到過這裡。
"A few years ago an article came out that said the project was over," said Reilly Brennan, general partner at Trucks VC, which invests in transportation companies. "I laughed at the time because I knew at least a dozen people who were working on stuff at Apple in this sphere."
「幾年前，一篇文章說這個項目已經結束了，」投資運輸公司的Trucks VC的普通合伙人雷利•布倫南（Reilly Brennan）說當時我笑了，因為我知道至少有十幾個人在蘋果公司從事這個領域的工作。」
"It's been a constant pot on a low boil on the back of your stove that has continued to sit at that same level," Brennan added. "Maybe there will be an announcement coming, but I don't know. It's been the same for years."
「這是一個持續的鍋在一個低煮沸在你的爐子後面，一直坐在同一水平，」布倫南補充說也許會有一個公告，但我不知道。多年來都是這樣。」
It's not hard to understand why Apple would want to break into a trillion-dollar industry. But at the same time, auto development is complex. Tesla has demonstrated the appeal of a software-focused car, but it's taken years for Elon Musk's company to become profitable -- and the money it does make isn't from car sales. The question has always been how Apple will try to crack this space: by building a car itself, partnering with an automaker, creating car software or something else entirely?
不難理解，蘋果為什麼要打入一個萬億美元的產業。但與此同時，汽車發展也很複雜。特斯拉已經展示了一款專注於軟體的汽車的吸引力，但埃隆·馬斯克的公司卻花了數年時間才實現盈利，而且它確實賺的錢並不是來自汽車銷售。問題一直是，蘋果將如何嘗試破解這一領域：通過自己製造汽車、與汽車製造商合作、開發汽車軟體或完全其他的方式？
Sam Abuelsamid, a car industry analyst with consulting firm Guidehouse Insights, believes Apple may be more interested in mobility services, including a robo-taxi division, as it has shifted its focus in recent years to paid services to boost revenue amid a saturated smartphone market. Apple is already an investor in Chinese ridesharing giant Didi. And in 2019, Apple acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving startup that had worked with Lyft on a robotaxi pilot project.
諮詢公司Guidehouse Insights的汽車行業分析師薩姆·阿布爾薩米德（Sam Abuelsamid）認為，蘋果可能對移動服務更感興趣，包括機器人計程車部門，因為在智慧型手機市場飽和的情況下，蘋果近年來已將重心轉向付費服務，以增加收入。蘋果已經是中國共享單車巨頭滴滴的投資者。而在2019年，蘋果收購了驅動器.ai，這是一家自動駕駛的初創公司，曾與Lyft合作過一個機器人塔溪試點項目。
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It'd be a move somewhat reminiscent of the Apple TV when people previously speculated the company was working on a television set, but Apple instead released a small streaming box that sits alongside existing TVs. "They opted not to do a TV set because margins were too low, and they couldn't create something better than what was already out there," said Abuelsamid.
這一舉動多少讓人想起蘋果電視，當時人們猜測蘋果公司正在研製一臺電視機，但蘋果卻發布了一款與現有電視機並排的小型流媒體盒。」他們選擇不做電視機，因為利潤太低，他們無法創造出比現有更好的產品，」Abuelsamid說。
When Apple approached Drive.ai about a possible acquisition, the tech giant was "serious about their efforts, though they were extremely tight lipped and didn't want us to discuss or confirm anything publicly," said a former Drive.ai board member, who spoke to CNN Business on condition of anonymity. The former board member added that "most of the Drive.ai employees that I know that are there are still working on special projects and still on the car project."
當蘋果接近驅動器.ai對於可能的收購，這家科技巨頭「對他們的努力很認真，儘管他們非常守口如瓶，不希望我們公開討論或確認任何事情，」一位前高管表示驅動器.ai董事會成員，匿名接受CNN商業頻道採訪。這位前董事會成員補充說，「大多數驅動器.ai據我所知，他們仍在從事特殊項目和汽車項目。」
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment on this story.
蘋果沒有回應記者就此事置評的請求。
Whichever path it pursues in the auto sector, Apple must increasingly compete not just with automakers but tech companies and startups for talent and traction. Some companies like Zoox, a self-driving car startup acquired by Amazon, have reportedly poached auto-centric talent from Apple. Apple, for its part, has poached employees from companies like Porsche, Google's Waymo and Tesla, including the executive who once oversaw development of its Model 3 car.
無論蘋果在汽車領域走哪條路，它都必須在人才和吸引力方面與汽車製造商、科技公司和初創企業展開日益激烈的競爭。據報導，亞馬遜收購的自動駕駛汽車初創公司Zoox等公司已經從蘋果公司挖走了以汽車為中心的人才。蘋果則挖走了保時捷（Porsche）、谷歌（Google）Waymo和特斯拉（Tesla）等公司的員工，其中包括曾經監督其3型車開發的高管。
If and when Apple does finalize its car plans, industry watchers expect the company will try to stay true to its secretive approach with other products and announce it at the last possible moment, just before it's ready to go on sale. "It'd be unusual if they started acting like an automaker and teased something that's coming out in 5 years," Brennan said.
如果蘋果真的敲定了汽車計劃，業內觀察人士預計，該公司將努力保持對其他產品的保密態度，並在可能的最後一刻，即準備上市前宣布這一計劃。」如果他們開始表現得像一個汽車製造商，取笑5年後即將問世的產品，那將是不尋常的，」布倫南說。
But despite years of rumors, big hires and research and development, it's entirely possible an Apple car project might never become a reality.
但是，儘管有多年的傳言，大量的招聘和研發，蘋果汽車項目完全有可能永遠不會成為現實。
"I've always been skeptical that Apple would actually pull the trigger on getting into the car business," Abuelsamid said. "Apple has shifted direction multiple times in the past few years around car tech, trying to figure out what and if there's anything they want to do. It spends a lot of time researching a lot of products, many of which never actually come to market."
Abuelsamid說：「我一直懷疑蘋果是否真的會在進入汽車行業時扣動扳機。」在過去幾年中，蘋果公司圍繞汽車技術多次改變方向，試圖弄清楚他們想做什麼，是否有什麼事情。它花了大量時間研究許多產品，其中許多產品實際上從未上市。」
— Michelle Toh contributed reporting.
-Michelle Toh參與了報導。
鴿了兩天了還是想放假，大家湊合機器翻譯看哦~~泛讀和精讀相結合才能快速提升閱讀的能力（真的不是假理論，但是是真的藉口，放假已經不想碼字啦！！！）