亞馬遜Vs.蘋果：對決無期，各自精彩

????現在亞馬遜（Amazon）和蘋果（Apple）已經成了競爭對手，誰會從競爭中勝出？我認為至少在未來的幾年里，雙方將各自精彩。

????亞馬遜與蘋果之間的競爭已經存在一些時日了。今年早些時候，亞馬遜推出了專門銷售Android應用的亞馬遜應用商店（Amazon Appstore），而蘋果馬上起訴亞馬遜侵犯了它的商標。（亞馬遜則堅稱“應用商店”一詞不屬于商標）。不久后，亞馬遜推出了自己的云驅動（Cloud Drive）和云播放器（Cloud Player），這兩項媒體存儲服務都與蘋果iTunes的發展計劃相沖突。

????過去的兩周里，不僅蘋果與亞馬遜的競爭進一步升級，同時在輸贏的走向上也有了更清晰的跡象。首先是亞馬遜發布了自己的Kindle Fire平板電腦，許多人都說Kindle Fire可能是第一款真正能與iPad匹敵的平板，而iPad目前仍占據北美平板市場80%的份額。另外蘋果表示它于今年6月發布的iCloud服務將于10月12日正式上線。

????蘋果和亞馬遜都想讓用戶在云上儲存娛樂內容。這兩家公司都有著龐大、忠誠的用戶群。而且現在這兩家公司都在向顧客銷售平板電腦，用戶可以用這些平板電腦購買并下載數以百萬計的歌曲、視頻、應用、游戲和雜志。

????但是蘋果和亞馬遜間的競爭不太可能演變成血腥的廝殺，相反，至少在未來數年內，它們的競爭可能都是互惠互利的。亞馬遜的應用商店與蘋果的iTunes已經競爭了好幾年，但是它們對對方都沒有造成什么損害。【當然，對于沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）來說就是另一碼事了。】2007年初喬布斯曾公開批評音樂發行商，此后，iTunes從2007年4月開始提供沒有數字版權管理（DRM）的音樂。而亞馬遜也于當年5月采取了同一舉措，使得各大音樂發行公司推行數字版權管理的難度大增。

????目前，這兩家主要的數字內容零售商都在誘使用戶將內容儲存在云上，將同時加速iCloud和Could Drive的普及率。而在平板電腦方面，Kindle Fire看起來也完全不像一個“iPad殺手”，相對來說它更像一個精簡版的iPad，主要瞄準低端市場，而把高端市場留給了蘋果。

????Now that Amazon and Apple are rivals, which one is likely to win? For the next few years, at least, the answer will be both.

????The rivalry between Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) has been emerging for some time. Earlier this year, Amazon launched the Amazon Appstore for Android apps, and Apple quickly sued for trademark infringement. (Amazon maintained the term was a generic.) Shortly after, Amazon unveiled its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, two media-storage services that put it on a collision course with Apple's plans for iTunes.

????The past two weeks have not only raised the stakes in the Apple-Amazon rivalry, it's also offered a clearer indication of how it may shake out. First, Amazon announced its Kindle Fire, a tablet that many are saying could be the first solid competitor to the iPad, which still holds an 80% share of the North American tablet market. Then, Apple said its iCloud service, announced last June, would ship Oct. 12.

????Both companies aim to host your entertainment content in the cloud. Both have huge, loyal customer bases to start from. And now, both are selling tablet computers that their customers can use to buy and access millions of songs, videos, apps, games and magazines.

????But the rivalry isn't likely to be a bitter, bloody one. Instead, it might prove mutually beneficial, at least for the next few years. Amazon's store and iTunes have competed for years with little detriment to either. (The same can't be said for Wal-Mart (WMT), however.) After Steve Jobs began publicly chiding music publishers, iTunes began offering DRM-free songs in April 2007. Amazon, following suit in May, made it that much harder for the labels to keep pushing for DRM.

????Having two major digital-content retailers coaxing users to store their content in the cloud could speed up adoption of both iCloud and Cloud Drive. And in tablets, the Kindle Fire looks nothing like an "iPad killer." Instead, it's a relatively stripped-down version of the iPad, a tablet aimed at the low-end of the market, leaving the high-end open for Apple.