Apple Inc. is on the defensive.

　　苹果(Apple Inc.)正在采取防御姿态

　　In a rare interview a day before Samsung Electronics Co.'s launch of a new flagship smartphone, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller on Wednesday played down the expected competition from the device. He also discussed how he believes products that run Google Inc.'s Android software, such as Samsung's phone, are inferior to Apple's iPhone.

　　周三，在三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)发布新款旗舰手机的前一天，苹果市场营销负责人席勒(Phil Schiller)罕见地接受了采访。他弱化了预计将来自这款设备的竞争。他还谈论了为什么他认为三星等搭载谷歌公司(Google Inc.)安卓(Android)软件的产品比不上苹果的iPhone。

　　Mr. Schiller shared data on the iPhone's popularity and said Apple's own research shows that four times as many iPhone users switched from an Android phone than to an Android phone in the fourth quarter.

　　席勒分享了有关iPhone受欢迎程度的数据，并表示，苹果自己的研究显示，去年第四季度，把安卓手机换成iPhone的用户数量是把iPhone换成安卓手机的用户数量的四倍。

　　His remarks come as Apple has been gently suggesting similar messages in recent months as competitors such as Samsung have been gaining buzz─and market share.

　　席勒发表上述言论的同时，苹果最近几个月也逐渐发出了类似的信息。最近几个月，三星等竞争者一直在赢得关注度和市场份额。

　　Mr. Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of world-wide marketing, also said that Android users are often running old operating systems and that the fragmentation in the Android world was 'plain and simple.'

　　苹果全球营销的高级副总裁席勒还说，安卓用户经常使用老的操作系统，安卓世界的碎片化现象显而易见。

　　He added that 'Android is often given as a free replacement for a feature phone and the experience isn't as good as an iPhone.'

　　他补充说，功能型手机通常可以免费安装安卓系统，用户体验则不像iPhone那么好。

　　The executive said the Android devices suffer in part because different elements come from multiple companies, whereas Apple is responsible for all its mobile hardware and as well as its iOS operating system.

　　席勒说，安卓设备的缺陷在于，不同的公司开发了不同的组成部分，而苹果负责所有的手机硬件和iOS操作系统。

　　'When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with,' he said. 'They don't work seamlessly together.'

　　他说，当你开始使用一台安卓设备时，你需要在九个不同的销售商那里注册九个账户才能获得与iOS相同的体验;它们无法无缝合作。

　　Apple's iPhone represented 19.1% of global smartphone sales in 2012, compared with 66.4% for all Android phones, according to research firm Gartner. Meanwhile, market researcher IDC this week said it expects tablets powered by Android to eclipse Apple's iPad next year, too. Apple still beats Samsung in U.S. smartphone subscribers, according to comScore.

　　研究公司Gartner的数据显示，2012年，苹果的iPhone在全球智能手机销售中占据了19.1%的市场份额，相比之下，安卓手机的市场份额为66.4%。与此同时，市场研究机构IDC本周表示，该公司预计明年安卓平板设备的市场份额将超过苹果的iPad。根据comScore，苹果在美国智能手机市场的份额仍然高于三星。