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The US and Asia have been behind an unexpectedly strong recovery in luxury spending this year but sales are expected to slow in 2011.
今年奢侈品消费呈强劲回升态势，美国和亚洲是这背后的主要推动力量。但预计奢侈品销售将在2011 年放缓。
Global luxury sales will grow by 10 percent this year to 168bn ($235bn), according to forecasts by Bain & Co, a rate of growth much stronger than the 4 percent the consultancy predicted in April and comparable with 2008 sales.
咨询公司贝恩4 月份时预测全球奢侈品销售额将增长4%，但事实上今年的销售额增长了10%，达到1680 亿欧元，增长速度比得上08 年时的增长速度。
Bain expects growth to cool next year, partly due to the dollar continuing to weaken against the euro and because of the strength of sales in 2010.
贝恩预测，鉴于美元兑欧元持续贬值和2010 年销售额的过度回升，销售额增长将在明年放缓。
It expects sales in 2011 to rise by 4-5 per cent, which is more in line with historical rates.
它还预测，2011 年销售额将增长4-5%，这与历史增长率比较接近。
The forecasts show that the luxury goods industry has bounced back sharply after last year ’s 8 percent fall in sales-the worst ever in the luxury market.
这些预测表明，奢侈品行业在经历了去年销售额下降8%的历史最糟成绩之后，开始强劲反弹。
“The main drivers are China and Asia but the real surprise has been the rebound in the US,” said Claudia D’Arpizio, a Milan-based Bain partner. “Department stores are suffering less than expected.”
“主要推动力是中国和亚洲，但真正令人意外的是美国市场的回升。” 贝恩驻米兰合伙人克劳迪亚·达皮奇奥表示，“百货公司受到的影响低于预期”。
In spite of fears about the health of the US economy, the most recent data for September show US luxury department stores outperforming the rest of the retail sector. Higher numbers of affluent travelers have also boosted luxury sales this year, especially tourists from China.
尽管人们对美国经济忧心忡忡，但9 月份最新数据显示，美国奢侈品百货商店的表现要好于其他零售业部门。有钱人旅游消费的增加也推动了今年奢侈品的销售，尤其是来自中国的游客。
Big brands have been the biggest winners from the rebound in demand, according to Bain, which said they were better able to respond to the crisis through investment and new store openings.
贝恩表示，奢侈品大品牌是需求回升中的最大赢家，它们可以通过投资和开设新店更好地应对危机。
考研必读英语精美时文：研发经费普降Research and development spending at major companies declined last year for the first time in more than a decade, according to a survey by management consulting firm Booz & Co.
管理咨询公司Booz & Co.的一项调查结果显示，去年大公司在研发方面的投入出现了10 多年以来的首次下降。
The cuts last year were concentrated in auto, computing, electronics and industrial companies, some of the biggest spenders. ‘The world-wide recession finally caught up with the world’s top innovation spenders in 2009,’the Booz report says, adding that‘the most forward-looking companies will likely move quickly to restore the R&D cuts they made in 2009.’
对研发支出作出削减的行业主要包括汽车、计算机、电子和工业企业，其中有几家公司是世界上最舍得在研发上花钱的公司。“2009 年，全球范围的衰退终于对世界上在创新方面支出最多的公司产生了影响。” Booz 的调查报告说，“最有远见的公司可能很快就会恢复2009年削减的研发费用。”
Total 2009 R&D spending by the companies surveyed declined 3.5% from a year earlier to $503 billion. Roche Holding AG had the biggest spending total last year, at $9.12 billion. It was followed by Microsoft Corp. with $9.01 billion and Nokia Corp. at $8.24 billion. Toyota Motor Corp. ’s R&D spending totaled $7.82 billion, and Pfizer Inc. had $7.74 billion.
接受调查的公司2009 年研发支出总额为5,030 亿美元，较一年前下降3.5%。去年研发支出最多的是罗氏公司，研发费用91.2 亿美元，其次是微软，研发费用90.1 亿美元，诺基亚，研发费用82.4 亿美元。丰田汽车公司研发支出总额为78.2 亿美元，辉瑞制药有限公司支出为77.4 亿美元。
Booz also found that heavy spending on R&D doesn’t necessarily lead to recognition as a technology leader.
Booz 的调查还发现，在研发方面投入越多的公司并不一定被看做科技领头羊。
In a survey of more than 450‘innovation executives’from 400 companies representing $150 billion in annual R&D spending, Booz asked them to name the companies they considered‘most innovative.’
Booz 对来自400 家公司的450 多名研发管理者进行了调查，这些公司的年度研发支出总计1,500 亿美元。Booz 让他们列出他们认为“最有创新精神”的公司。
The three most frequently chosen by respondents were Apple Inc., Google Inc. and 3M Co., none of which was among the 10 biggest spenders on R&D in 2009.
结果他们选出的公司是苹果、谷歌和3M Co。而这三家公司2009 年的研发支出都没有进入前十。
Apple last year spent about 3.1% of its sales on R&D, or about half the typical level for computer and electronic companies, said Barry Jaruzelski, a partner at Booz, and yet Apple’s R&D appears to be far more effective than that of many rivals.
Booz 公司合伙人雅鲁泽尔斯基说，苹果去年的研发支出仅占销售额的3.1%左右，大约是电脑和电子产品公司平均水平的一半。但苹果公司用小钱办大事，他们研发工作的有效性超过了很多竞争对手。
‘It’s much more about how you do it than how much you spend,’Mr. Jaruzelski said. Apple succeeds because it has a deep understanding of consumers, is focused in its projects ‘as opposed to trying to spread their bets,’and attracts superior talent, he said.
雅鲁泽尔斯基说，做事的方式比花多少钱更重要。苹果成功的原因在于，它并不专注于一味扩大规模，而是更关注消费者的需求，并且吸引一流的人才。
考研必读英语精美时文：家乐福，十字路口Carrefour’s presence in Thailand is similarly modest. Whereas Britain’s Tesco has become the country ’s biggest grocery chain, Carrefour lies in a distant fourth place. Across the border in Malaysia it trails well behind Tesco and two other foreign retailers.
家乐福在泰国的表现并不算出色——在英国的特易购成为泰国最大的连锁店的同时，家乐福的排名却只有第四。在马来西亚全境，家乐福都要远远落后于特易购和其他两家外国零售商。
And so, with a Gallic shrug, Carrefour is closing up shop in much of South-East Asia. Its 44 stores in Thailand, 23 in Malaysia and two in Singapore are for sale. Potential buyers are said to include Tesco and Casino, a French firm that already has a Thai joint venture, Big C. Analysts reckon that Carrefour’s stores could fetch up to $1 billion.
对于这种现状，家乐福摆出一副“责不在我，我也没辙”的姿态，陆续关闭东南亚大部分的门店。它准备出售44 家泰国店，23 家马来西亚店以及2家新加坡店。据说潜在买家有特易购和卡西诺，后者是一家拥有泰国合资企业Big C 的法国公司。分析师估算，家乐福的竞购价可以达到10 亿美元。
Carrefour was one of the first foreign grocers to open shops in South-East Asia in the 1990s. But the later-arriving Tesco proved cannier in figuring out what consumers wanted. When the firm found out that Thai shoppers traveled for miles by bus to its “big-box” stores, it opened smaller stores in rural towns. Carrefour focused on Bangkok’s higher spenders and stuck to its hypermarket format. Toby Desforges, founder of Engage, a marketing consultancy, calls this the “take it or leave pressure from activist shareholders to reverse the firm’s global
expansion and focus on Europe. Mr. Olofsson has said he prefers to leave markets where Carrefour is not one of the top two retailers or has little hope of becoming one.
家乐福是上世纪90 年代最早在东南亚开设分店的外国零售商之一，但是后来者特易购似乎更了解客户的需求。当特易购发现泰国消费者需要乘坐几英里的公交车才能到它的大型卖场后，就开始在乡间小镇里开设小型门店。而家乐福则定位于曼谷的高端消费群体，坚持“大型卖场”路线。市场分析机构Engage 的创始人之一将家乐福的这种做法释为“要么接受，要么摒弃”。最终，泰国消费者选择了将它摒弃。家乐福的股东们一直在给首席执行官罗盛施加压力，要求他停止家乐福在全球的扩张计划，而专注于欧洲市场。罗盛说，家乐福在有些地区不是市场的领头羊，也没希望成为领头羊，他倾向于放弃这些市场。
For all that, Carrefour’s retreat from South-East Asia may be ill-timed. Compared with Europe, the region ’s economy is buoyant. Thailand’s modern retail sector is growing rapidly despite the country’s political turmoil. The same is true of Malaysia. As incomes rise, more shoppers will opt to drive to large, air-conditioned stores. Some might even develop a taste for French cheese.
不管怎么样，家乐福选择从东南亚退出的时机不对。和欧洲比，这里的经济生机蓬勃。马来西亚也是如此。当收入增加时，更多购物者愿意驱车前往宽敞大气、空调开放的超市。有些人甚至还会迷上法国奶酪呢。
考研必读英语精美时文