1049億元！微軟擬收購全球最大語音識別公司Nuance，後者是Siri幕後英雄

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"blockquote","content":[{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance已是沒落的語音識別巨頭，微軟欲花160億美元買下它，這筆交易值嗎？"}]}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"align":null,"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"微軟擬斥資160億美元收購Nuance"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"北京時間4月12日，根據彭博社的報道，微軟正在就收購全球最大語音識別公司Nuance Communications Inc.進行深入談判。據悉，微軟可能願意爲收購這家公司支付高達160億美元（1049億元人民幣）的收購價格。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"報道稱，兩家公司之間的談判“正在進行中”，尚未最終敲定。CNBC援引知情人士消息稱，交易可能最早於週日簽署，最早於週一宣佈。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"知情人士稱，微軟第一次與Nuance接洽是在去年12月，其願意以每股56美元的價格收購Nuance，這將使Nuance的股權價值達到約160億美元，較該公司上週五每股45.58美元的收盤價溢價23%。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"而一旦談判最終完成，意味着，這筆交易將成爲微軟史上第二大收購案，僅次於2016年以270億美元的價格收購LinkedIn。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance專注於開發在醫療保健、電信、汽車、金融服務等領域的“對話人工智能”應用，並提供面向消費者和企業客戶的語音識別技術。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance是微軟在人工智能醫療保健領域的合作伙伴。2019年，Nuance和微軟宣佈建立戰略合作伙伴關係，雙方合作開發醫學環境下的臨牀智能（ACI）技術，以實現未來檢查室的臨牀文檔自行記錄。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"彼時兩家公司表示，他們將攜手合作，將Nuance的醫療平臺與Azure、Azure人工智能服務、Project Empower MD 智能書寫服務，以及兩家公司開發的其他各種對話人工智能技術結合起來。作爲合作的一部分，Nuance還將其大部分的內部基礎設施和託管產品遷移到了Azure。去年秋天，兩家公司表示，Nuance的Dragon Ambient eXperience ACI解決方案已經與微軟團隊集成。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"資料顯示，Nuance公司成立於1992年，截至2020年9月，該公司擁有7100名員工。Nuance通過銷售、識別和記錄醫生診視、客服電話和語音郵件中的語音工具來獲得收入。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"財務資料顯示，2020年第四季度，Nuance實現淨利潤700萬美元，收入約3.46億美元，摺合成年率下降4%。自2020年3月以來，Nuance的股價上漲了近兩倍，市值爲130億美元。"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"align":null,"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"微軟開啓“買買買”模式"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"收購Nuance可以擴大微軟在語音軟件方面的能力。微軟已經有了開發人員可以使用的工具，通過應用程序可將語音轉錄成文字，它還將語音識別功能整合到自己的產品中，如必應(Bing)搜索引擎和團隊通信應用程序。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"不過，兩家公司之間的談判雖進展順利，但仍存在談判破裂的可能性。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"目前，兩家公司均未就傳聞做出迴應。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"這筆交易反映出，微軟正在人工智能、語音技術和醫療保健領域持續加大投資。分析師Dan Ives表示，微軟“在未來12至18個月將展開一場併購戰”。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"近幾年，微軟一直在買買買的路上不止步，保持着積極的收購政策。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"就在上個月，微軟以75億美元的價格收購了視頻遊戲製造商Zenimax。去年，微軟曾考慮過收購視頻分享應用程序TikTok的美國業務。去年3月，有消息稱，微軟正在談判以100億美元的價格收購視頻遊戲聊天社區Discord。"}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"align":null,"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance:巨頭沒落"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance在語音識別領域已深耕了20多年，但早期因爲風格低調，很多人對這家公司的瞭解並不多。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"2010年，伴隨着Nuance與蘋果之間達成合作，Siri確定採用Nuance的技術，以幫助Siri聽到和理解用戶的要求。Nuance由此聲名鵲起。2013年，Nuance高管首次承認與蘋果合作，其稱Nuance是蘋果語音識別的基礎供應商，不過並不處理Siri的人工智能層任務，只處理語音識別。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance是siri的主要技術支持者，扮演的是siri“幕後英雄”的角色。彭博社報道中提到，此次收購的報告中指出，Nuance爲蘋果Siri語音軟件的技術“奠定了基礎”。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"除爲蘋果提供技術支持外，Nuance的技術還廣泛應用在三星的語音助手S-Voice、電視機和GPS設備，各大航空公司和銀行的自動呼叫中心等設備上。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"後來，Nuance逐步一統智能語音江湖，成長爲全球智能語音領域最大的公司，其擁有全球最先進的電腦語音識別軟件Naturally Speaking等。2005年，Nuance在納斯達克上市。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"《全球語音助手應用程序市場研究報告2021-2027》報告顯示，全球語音助手應用程序市場中排名前5名的公司是– Nuance Communications，Amazon.com，Inc.，Google LLC，Microsoft Corporation，Apple Inc."}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"據悉，目前，77%的美國醫院和85%的全球財富100強企業都在使用Nuance技術。Nuance擁有Dragon Medical平臺，在全球約50多萬名醫生使用該平臺。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"不過，危機也很快來臨。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"近年來，蘋果、亞馬遜、三星、谷歌、Facebook等公司逐步開始組建自己的智能語音團隊，開發自己的語音技術。2016年，消息稱，蘋果在Nuance的大本營悄悄設立了語音技術研發團隊，以減輕對Nuance的依賴。且這些公司也不斷地從Nuance挖角，致使其人才流失嚴重。谷歌曾在2004年挖走了Nuance的聯合創始人Mike Cohen，安排其擔任谷歌語音識別的負責人。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"慢慢地，Nuance所構建出的技術壁壘逐漸被瓦解，客戶也流失嚴重。與此同時，這家老牌語音技術廠商也在奮力謀求轉型爲企業解決方案服務商，但自救努力仍難見成效。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"在過去幾年裏，市場多次傳出Nuanc被收購的消息。2014年，有傳言稱Nuance欲出售業務，三星和其他幾家PE公司都有意向。2015年，有消息稱，百度將收購語音識別巨頭Nuance。最後似乎都無疾而終。業內認爲，錯過最佳的收購時機，也爲Nuance波折的命運增添諸多變數。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Nuance的營收情況也不容樂觀。自2005年上市後，Nuance在長達6年的時間裏仍處於虧損狀態，到2011年才首次實現盈利，並憑此迎來市值巔峯。此後，市值便開始下滑。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"儘管Nuance目前仍是全球語音識別領域的巨頭，但英雄遲暮，已難抵住衰頹與沒落的命運。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"這次若成功“聯姻”微軟，或許不失爲找到了一個不錯的出路。"}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"strong"}],"text":"參考文章："}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/04\/11\/microsoft-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-speech-recognition-company-nuance.html?fileGuid=YRJpTV93HW3gwGJ9","title":"","type":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/04\/11\/microsoft-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-speech-recognition-company-nuance.html"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null}},{"type":"paragraph","attrs":{"indent":0,"number":0,"align":null,"origin":null},"content":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https:\/\/www.leiphone.com\/category\/a-eye\/nuance-sanxing-apple.html?fileGuid=YRJpTV93HW3gwGJ9","title":"","type":null},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"https:\/\/www.leiphone.com\/category\/a-eye\/nuance-sanxing-apple.html"}]}]}]}