The fallout from two research reports signaling the rapid deterioration of the personal-computer industry touched Hewlett Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. on Thursday, as investors punished two of the companies with the most at stake.
放出個人電腦產業前景迅速惡化這一信號的兩份研究報告所帶來的負面影響週四衝擊了惠普(Hewlett Packard Co.)和微軟(Microsoft Corp.)兩家公司。與此同時，投資者也懲罰了這兩家公司。
On Wednesday research firms IDC and Gartner Inc. published data showing PC shipments fell as much as 14% in the first quarter, with H-P having the sharpest decline at 24%.
週三研究機構國際數據公司(IDC)和Gartner Inc.公佈的數據顯示，今年一季度個人電腦出貨量降幅高達14%，其中惠普的降幅最大，爲24%。
H-P investors reacted to the data with alarm on Thursday, sending shares of the world's largest maker of PCs down 6.5% to $20.88.
惠普的投資者週四因這一數據受到驚嚇，令這一全球最大個人電腦製造商的股價下降6.5%，至20.88美元。
Analysts couldn't agree on what drove H-P's poor performance in particular, blaming it on everything from inventory adjustments to the company's higher exposure to consumer sales to hopes of added demand from Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system.
至於是什麼原因導致惠普業績不佳，分析師的觀點並不一致。有人認爲這是庫存調整造成的，也有人認爲惠普加大了對消費市場的銷售，還有人認爲是惠普以爲微軟新推出的Windows 8操作系統會提升需求。
'Perhaps [H-P] and their channel partners were too upbeat about Windows 8, ' said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee, noting that sales to end customers were likely lower than the company had planned, leaving a lot of unclaimed computers in warehouses and on store shelves.
券商Sterne Agee的分析師Shaw Wu說，也許惠普和他們的渠道夥伴對Windows 8太樂觀了。他指出，對終端客戶的銷售很可能低於公司的預期，庫房和商店貨架上也會剩下許多無人問津的電腦。
An H-P spokesman said the company's continuing position as the top PC maker demonstrates its ongoing commitment to making superior computers while also branching into various tablets for consumers and corporate customers as well.
惠普的一名發言人說，公司長期的最大個人電腦製造商的地位顯示出，公司一直在致力於製造品質卓越的電腦，同時也致力於向消費者和企業客戶提供多種型號的平板電腦。
Shares of Microsoft, whose Windows software powers the majority of PCs, slipped 4.9% to $28.82, after the company's stock price had touched a six-month high Wednesday.
微軟的股票下跌了4.9%，至28.82美元，此前，微軟的股票週三觸及了六個月高點。大多數個人電腦搭載的都是微軟的Windows操作系統。
A spokesman for Microsoft had no immediate comment Thursday.
微軟的一名發言人週四沒有立即置評。
H-P has struggled amid broader pressures, leading to the worst quarterly decline in shipments since it acquired Compaq Computer in 2003, Gartner said.
Gartner說，惠普一直在來自各個方面的壓力下掙扎，以至於出貨量出現了自2003年收購康柏電腦以來最大的季度降幅。
Customer interest in mobile devices, such as Apple Inc.'s iPad, have contributed to slowing computer sales, while corporate customers aren't replacing their computers as quickly as in the past. And consumers have given a tepid response to Microsoft's Windows 8, IDC said Wednesday.
消費者對移動設備（如蘋果(Apple)的iPad）的興趣也促成了電腦銷售的放緩，企業客戶也不像過去那樣頻繁地更換電腦。IDC週三說，消費者對微軟Windows 8的反應不溫不火。
H-P's internal dramas also haven't helped, corporate customers have said. Over the past few years, H-P has seen the abrupt exits of two CEOs, an expensive and controversial software acquisition and at least temporary uncertainty over the company's commitment to continue making computers. Last week, Chairman Raymond Lane gave up his position and two other board members resigned amid shareholder opposition.
企業客戶說，惠普內部的人事變動也雪上加霜。過去幾年間，惠普曾有兩名CEO突然離職，實施了一樁昂貴和充滿爭議的軟件收購，而且在公司是否打算繼續製造電腦方面至少暫時地出現過不確定性。上週，惠普的董事長萊恩(Raymond Lane)宣佈辭職，另外兩名董事會成員也因爲股東的反對而辭職。
The company's products for consumers and business customers have also come under increasing pressure from competitors.
這家公司針對消費者和企業客戶的產品也承受着來自競爭對手的日益增長的壓力。
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Group Ltd., in particular, is H-P's greatest threat. Lenovo's shipments stayed relatively steady in the first quarter, and its share of the shrinking market swelled to within striking distance of H-P's longtime No. 1 position.
中國的電腦製造商聯想集團(Lenovo Group Ltd.)是惠普面臨的最大威脅。聯想的出貨量第一季度相對平穩，其在日益縮水的市場中的份額出現增長，已經對惠普長期的霸主地位構成威脅。
Lenovo bought International Business Machines Corp.'s 'ThinkPad' computer business nearly a decade ago and has been pursuing a strategy to turn it into a powerhouse since 2009. The company has already eclipsed Acer Inc. and Dell Inc. in terms of global PC shipments.
將近10年前，聯想收購了國際商業機器公司(IBM)的ThinkPad電腦業務，從2009年起就一直致力於將其打造成公司的增長引擎。在全球個人電腦出貨量方面，聯想已經超過了宏碁(Acer Inc.)和戴爾(Dell Inc.)。
'Lenovo continues to outperform its traditional PC competition and there is still plenty of room to take share in this market, ' a Lenovo spokesman said in a statement.
聯想的一名發言人在一份聲明中說，聯想繼續在傳統的個人電腦競爭中表現超羣，並且還有足夠的空間在這一市場奪取份額。
Lenovo has been expanding its offerings of higher-end ThinkPad brand of laptops and amped up its marketing, blanketing airwaves with dramatic ads for its 'Yoga' tablet-computer hybrid.
聯想一直在擴大更高端的ThinkPad品牌的筆記本電腦的產品種類，並且加大了營銷力度，媒體上到處都是其平板和電腦合二爲一產品──Yoga的戲劇化的廣告。
With products like the Yoga in particular, Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said in January that Lenovo grabbed more than 40% of the U.S. retail market of computers that cost at least $900 and run Windows 8. 'We are making a lot of progress, ' Mr. Yang said in an interview.