Xiaomi has sealed a deal to buy some 1,500 patents from Microsoft, a move that will help the Chinese smartphone maker¹ expand exports and earn the US technology giant some badly needed goodwill² in Beijing.

小米(Xiaomi)与微软(Microsoft)达成一项协议，将向微软购买约1500项专利，此举将帮助这家中国智能手机制造商扩大出口，并为这家美国科技巨头在中国获得一些亟需的商誉。

The transaction addresses a key weakness facing Xiaomi, which is seeking to sell its devices in countries outside its home market but has been hindered by its relative lack of intellectual property to fend³ off lawsuits⁵.

这笔交易化解了小米面临的一项主要弱势，该公司希望在本土市场以外的国家销售其产品，但由于相对缺乏知识产权来抵御诉讼，这方面的努力受阻。

“In terms of patents we are a young company,” Xiaomi said yesterday, adding that the Microsoft deal was “a big milestone⁶ for us. It will help us with operations in new markets.”

“从专利的角度来看，我们是一家年轻公司，”小米昨日表示，该公司补充称，与微软的协议“是我们的一项重要里程碑。它将有利于我们在新市场的业务。”

The agreement comes on the eve of a visit to Beijing by Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella. The US company is still the subject of an antitrust investigation⁷ in China over the bundling of software, and its offices were raided by Chinese authorities in July 2014.

该协议是在微软首席执行官萨蒂亚•纳德拉(Satya Nadella)访华前夕签订的。微软仍因软件捆绑问题在中国面临反垄断调查，2014年7月，中国当局曾突击搜查该公司驻华办事处。

The patents deal includes Xiaomi installing Microsoft’s Office and Skype software on its phones. Financial terms were not made public.

这项专利协议包括小米将在其手机上安装微软的Office和Skype软件。交易金额没有公开。

Xiang Wang, senior vice-president, said Xiaomi was “excited” to be working with Microsoft and the deal demonstrated the Chinese company was “looking to build sustainable, long-term partnerships⁸ with global technology leaders”.

小米高级副总裁王翔表示，小米对于与微软合作感到“激动”，该协议证明，小米“希望与全球科技领军企业建立可持续的长期合作”。

Other US tech groups facing setbacks in China have looked to do deals with local champions, partly as a way to win favour with Beijing. Last month Apple invested $1bn in Didi Chuxing, China’s version of Uber, which some analysts⁹ said they believed was at least partly motivated by government relations.

其他在中国受挫的美国科技集团也已寻求与中国冠军企业做生意，在一定程度上是为了赢得中国政府的青睐。上月，苹果(Apple)向中国版优步(Uber)滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)投资10亿美元，一些分析人士表示，他们认为，此举至少在一定程度上受到政府关系的驱使。

Xiaomi said it had applied¹⁰ for 5,700 patents over the past two years but declined to give any detail on the number it has been awarded and where. The deal was a drop in the bucket for Microsoft, with its 60,000 patents.

小米表示，过去两年该公司已申请5700项专利，但拒绝透露有关获得批准的专利数量以及在何处获批的详细数据。对于拥有6万项专利的微软而言，该协议只是很小的一部分。

A lean patent portfolio¹¹ has hindered Xiaomi’s efforts to ramp¹² up exports. In the smartphone industry, patent litigation is a serious challenge and access to a large number of patents allows companies to reduce their vulnerability to lawsuits by cross-licensing and trading patents.

专利组合薄弱迄今阻碍着小米扩大出口的努力。在智能手机领域，专利诉讼是一项严峻挑战，获得大量专利将让公司通过交叉许可和专利交易减少诉讼带来的影响。

In India, its largest prospective¹³ foreign market, Xiaomi last year faced a patent lawsuit⁴ in a Delhi High Court by Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.

在印度，瑞典电信设备制造商爱立信(Ericsson)去年在德里高院(Delhi High Court)起诉小米专利侵权。印度是小米最具潜力的海外市场。

The case continues, though Xiaomi won a reprieve¹⁴ in a subsequent ruling barring it only from importing and selling phones containing components¹⁵ linked to the Ericsson dispute.

该案仍在审理中，尽管小米在随后的裁决中赢得喘息空间，仅被禁止进口和销售含有与爱立信纠纷相关的部件的手机。

Xiaomi currently exports to seven countries outside of China and Hong Kong, including Malaysia, India and Brazil.

除了中国内地和香港以外，小米目前还向7个国家销售产品，包括马来西亚、印度和巴西。

Expanding exports is part of a strategy to bolster¹⁶ sales, which are sagging¹⁷ in China. Xiaomi was the best-selling smartphone brand in China in 2014 and part of 2015 but has been eclipsed by Shenzhen-based rival Huawei.

扩大出口是提升销售的战略的一部分，如今小米在中国销售疲弱。在2014年全年和2015年部分时期，小米曾是中国最畅销的智能手机品牌，但现在已被总部位于深圳的竞争对手华为(Huawei)超越。

Xiaomi sold more than 70m phones in 2015, up from 61m the year before but missing both its original target of 100m and a revised goal of 80m.

小米在2015年销售了逾7000万部手机，超过了2014年的6100万部，但没有实现最初制定的销售1亿部（后来调整为8000万部）的目标。

Microsoft itself has had little success in trying to crack the global smartphone market. It acquired Nokia’s hardware business in 2013 for $7.2bn but the deal has been disastrous¹⁸. Microsoft said last month it would take an additional $950m writedown, having already written down $7.6bn from its mobile phone operations and laid off 7,800 staff.

微软自己在进军全球智能手机市场方面乏善可陈。它在2013年斥资72亿美元收购了诺基亚(Nokia)的硬件业务，但该交易是灾难性的。微软上月表示，将再次减记9.5亿美元，它之前已经对其手机业务减记了76亿美元，并裁掉了7800名员工。

Bryan Ma at IT consultancy IDC in Singapore said of the deal: “It’s a win-win, with one side building up its patent collection and the other building up its ecosystem¹⁹. But this deal alone won’t change either of their fortunes overnight.”

新加坡IT咨询公司IDC的马伯远(Bryan Ma)谈到该交易时表示：“这是一笔双赢交易，让一方积累专利数量，另一方打造其生态系统。但单凭该协议不会在一夜之间改变它们的命运。”