双语新闻：苹果欲巨资收购音响制造商Beats

2014-05-13 13:26:37来源：可可英语

　　But downloads fell 2 per cent to $3.93bn – the first annual decline since Apple launched its iTunes store in 2003. iTunes is still the world’s largest music download service.

　　苹果也曾试着推出音乐流媒体服务，不过从未推出过不限量的订阅服务。而iTunes的竞争对手，包括快速增长的Spotify，则提供不限量订阅服务。

　　Apple has dabbled in music streaming but never launched an unlimited subscription service to compete with fast-growing rivals to iTunes such as Spotify.

　　2009年苹果收购了音乐流媒体服务商Lala。去年苹果还曾推出iTunes Radio，这一服务与Beats旗下的部分业务以及Pandora等其他更为成熟的播放器存在竞争关系。

　　In 2009 it acquired Lala, a music streaming service, and last year launched iTunes Radio, which competes with elements of Beats, as well as more established players such as Pandora.

　　Beats的耳机等设备，被视作更具初创性的“可穿戴技术”。在苹果为推出“iWatch”智能手表作准备的过程中，它的设计师和工程师也能从Beats的多年经验中获益。

　　Mr Iovine and Dr Dre – real name Andre Young – were inspired to create Beats by the poor sound quality of the headphones bundled with the iPod and iPhone. Beloved by music and sports stars Beats has become a street-smart fashion brand

　　不过，这比高额收购很可能会让人们质疑，在2011年乔布斯去世之后，苹果是否还拥有内部创新能力。

　　Ahead of Apple’s expected launch of an ‘iWatch’ accessory, Beats will also give its designers and engineers access to years of experience in what some see as the original “wearable technology”.

　　截至3月底，扣除苹果去年筹集的170亿美元债务之后，它在全球持有的现金总额为1330亿美元。自那以来，该公司又筹集了120亿美元，当时该公司表示这笔钱将用于发放红利和股票回购计划——这两项计划总计需要1300亿美元。不过该公司多数资金都放在美国以外。自2012年苹果再次开始发放红利以来，它在美国国内的现金已减少了160亿美元至180 亿美元。

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