除了苹果，咱能关注点新的玩意吗？

视野越来越狭隘正成为电子产业的一个问题。一家公司以及少数的几种产品就能主宰一个规模达兆级美元的市场，同时也让众多的业界厂商、OEM、组件供货商、软件供货商以及其它第三方服务供货商们难以在智能型手机、平板计算机以及数字音乐播放器以外找到巨大销售成长的潜力。 如果你还不明白我在此所要表达的论点，那么我就更直截了当地说吧！ 除了苹果公司(Apple)及其 iPad 、 iPhone 、 iPod 与更多即将出现的 iProducts 以外，电子产业中还有更多值得关注的事物。对于一个即使历经不景气的冲击而在半导体市场仍能达到3,000亿美元年销售额以及全球营收超过1兆美元的电子 产业来说，我们似乎并没注意到一个事实──高科技世界并不是以苹果公司为主而发展起来的。尽管苹果公司的销售量十分巨大，也具有高度的成长潜力，但还有更 多的机会存在于各种软件与硬件开发环境，而我十分担心我们将会因目光短浅而错过这些机会。 例如，去年我参加了一场恩智浦半导体(NXP Semiconductors)公司在参展美国国际照明展(Lightfair)中所举行的产品发表会。我看到了一些马上就想把它带回家安装起来的酷炫产品。这些产品的照明灯具(灯泡)与电源插座均采用无线芯片，NXP并为我们展示如何透过一款简单的遥控器远程控制家中所有的灯光与插座。 你可以从客厅检查并确认家中所有灯光的关关状态，你也可以看到哪一个电源插座还在使用中(例如不小心让电熨斗插头还插在电源插座上)，并尽快从远程遥控开启 或关关。你还可以控制并调节家中电炉、暖气系统、热水器、电视、音响系统、户外灯光、安全系统和雨篷等。任何能连接到电源的设备都能在远程进行控制开关或安排。真是太吸引人了！ 原来，从我的智能手机就可以在远程实现这些任务──只要手机具有无线接收功能，不管是从芬兰、蒙古或在纽约附近的办公室都可以做得到。这并不是未来即将实 现的梦想，而是现在正发生中的事。欧洲一些电力公司对于这些照明创新产品特别有兴趣，他们除了部署智能电网以外，目前也已经开始计划推出这一类的照明商 品。 这不禁让我好奇业界在实现这一场照明革命方面究竟已经发展到什么程度了？我一方面对此感到无比兴奋，另一方面也夹杂着些许的感伤：整个业界与买家们是多么地沉迷于消费性电子产业中的单一领域──智能手机与平板电脑，而忽略了还有其它拥有更美好前景以及更节能的领域。 此外，当今的媒体对于苹果公司即将发表或更新的产品报导与预测可说是不遗余力。这种着迷的现象是全球性的──在加拿大，《环球邮报》(The Globe & Mail)甚至提供苹果公司产品发表会的“现场报导”。报上讨论到一种所谓的“iPad热潮”(iPad fever)，我很怀疑我们是否就是推动这种氛围持续上升的一群。在美国，大部份的新闻媒体也都有人随时待命，持续提供对苹果新产品发布的相关报导与评论。甚至在苹果公司本身尚未对于新闻发布会是否跟iPad发布有关的种种预测加以确定或否认以前，我个人就已经接收到好几封各家分析师的种种评论。 当然，我们不应该嫉妒苹果公司带给消费者和媒体的善意，只是还有许多发生在业界中的事物也值得我们密切关注。当我们将所有关注的焦点完全放在单一产品领域与 一家公司时，我们同时也错过了更重要或更广大的方向。古有明训：“独木不成林”就是这个道理。机会是为具有创意的设计、软件应用程序与制造而存在的。 销售的机会也为消费电子产业的其它领域而开启，如照明、创造就业机会，以及为机警的投资者带来投资成长的新领域。但许多人甚至不知道有这些新领域的存在，包括在这个产业中的公司，由于受到普遍流行的思考方式所影响──如果你没有一款专为iPad、iPhone或iPod等相关产品开发的设计，你彷佛不存在业 界一样。 让我们再回过来看看LightFair照明展。NXP是我在照明展中唯一参访的半导体公司。事实上，半导体业界还有 其它厂商；PCB；封装厂，以及互连、被动与机电(IP&E)产品市场，均销售产品至这个新兴的照明产业，但许多公司因为还未能看到该领域的营收 成长潜力，所以并未参展LightFair。在此我想特别强调，事实上这一照明市场拥有巨大的成长潜力，在应用方面，从灯泡开始一直延伸到家中的所有设 备。 在LightFair照明展上，NXP的高层主管解释，这种新型的照明产品十分简单，不仅灯泡可随插即用，同时也改变了 电源连接插座，因而不必再为家中重新布线。iPad和平板电脑或许真的就像许多人认为地那么创新，但在我们的产业中也还有更多可能推动成长的新事物──如果我们能够张大眼睛好好地去寻找这些新机会。 编译：Susan Hong 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：There's More to Consumer Electronics Than Apple & the iPad，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief

相关阅读：
• ZigBee与其它短距离无线通信技术比较
• 与商业对手在美国打LED专利官司的技巧
• 恩智浦推出全球首款双电源电压ARM Cortex-M0微控制器zwGesmc

{pagination} There's More to Consumer Electronics Than Apple & the iPad Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief Tunnel vision is becoming a problem for the electronics industry. One company and a handful of products are dominating discussions in a trillion-dollar market, and this is making it difficult for many industry players, OEMs, component vendors, software vendors, and other third-party services providers to realize potentials for huge sales growth outside of smartphones, tablet PCs, and digital music players. If you haven't got the drift of my argument here, let me put it a bit more bluntly: There's a lot more to the electronics industry than Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and whatever other iProducts are coming down the pike. For an industry where annual semiconductor sales have barreled even through a recession to hit more than $300 billion, and where global electronics revenue exceeds $1 trillion, we all seem to be oblivious to the possibility the high-tech universe does not revolve around planet Apple. The company's sales are huge and its growth potentials tremendous, but opportunities exist elsewhere for hardware and software development, and I am afraid we are missing many of these. Here's an example: I attended a presentation given one year or so ago by NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI) at the annual LightFair International Convention held in Philadelphia and saw some cool stuff I wished I could right away install at home. They had wireless chips installed in lighting fixtures (bulbs) and electrical outlets. The presenter demonstrated how you could control all the lights and outlets in the house from a simple remote controller. From the living room, you could check and make sure all lights in all sections of the house were off or on, depending on your preference. You could see which outlets were being used (for instance, if the iron is plugged in and inadvertently left on) and turn these on or off. You could also control (switch on or off and program) your stove, heating system, hot water boiler, TV, stereo system, exterior lights, the security system, awning, etc. Anything that can be connected to a power source can be remotely powered off or on and programmed. Fascinating. The guy had me, seriously. Then he sank the hook in deeper. It turns out I can do all of these from my smartphone, remotely -- from Iceland, Mongolia, Senegal, or a nearby office in New York -- as long as I have wireless reception. I was sold. This wasn't some futuristic thing. It's here now, the NXP presenter said, and all I had to do was engage with some company that has partnered with the European chip vendor to bring these to market. Power supply companies in Europe are particularly interested in these lighting inventions and are beginning to roll these out, in addition to their deployment of smart meters. A recent blog by EBN Europe contributor Jennifer Baljko brought this back to my mind and got me wondering how far the industry has gone in implementing this lighting revolution. (See: Wireless Connectivity & the ROI Conundrum.) I also watch with some amusement and a dash of disappointment how the industry and buyers have become obsessed with only one segment of the consumer electronics industry -- smartphones and tablets -- ignoring other sections that promise even greater utility and savings. Today, the media is devoting a lot of time and attention to speculations that Apple is about to unveil an update to its iPad tablet PC. The obsession is a global phenomenon; in Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper is providing "live coverage of Apple's product announcement." The paper talked about "iPad fever," and I wonder if we are not the ones driving up temperatures artificially. In the US, most news organizations have writers on high alert to provide running commentaries on the event. I have personally received several emails from analysts commenting on the Apple event, whereas the company itself has not confirmed or denied the speculations that the announcement would be about the iPad. OK, we shouldn't begrudge Apple the goodwill it has with consumers and the media, but there's still a lot more happening in this industry that deserve some attention. By focusing solely on one product segment and company, many of us are missing out on the bigger picture. Never has the worn adage "a tree does not make a forest" been more relevant, in my opinion. Opportunities exist in lighting for creative designs, software apps, and manufacturing. Sales opportunities are opening up in other segments of the consumer electronics industry like lighting, creating jobs and offering astute investors new areas for investment growth. But many, including companies operating in this industry, don't even know about these new areas because the prevailing sentiment is that if you don't have a product designed into the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, or the next-generation products from Apple, you don't exist. Let me return to the LightFair event. NXP was the only semiconductor company at the show I attended. There are others in the semiconductor; PCB; enclosures; and interconnects, passives, and electromechanical (IP&E) markets that also sell products into the fledgling lighting industry, but many chose not to attend LightFair because they didn't see the potentials here for revenue growth. I'd like to spell it out here. The sales potential is huge, starting with bulbs, as described above, but extending to all other household equipment. The NXP executive at LightFair explained that the new lighting products do not require rewiring a house to work. It is simply plug-and-play for bulbs, and changing outlets for power connections. The iPad and tablets are probably as revolutionary as some people believe, but there's a lot more happening in the industry that will drive growth -- if we would only open our eyes to these opportunities.