China Unicom yesterday unveiled the damage caused by its attempts to grab market share amid the fierce competition sparked by the start of third-generation services in China last year.

　　全球第二大移动运营商中国联通(China Unicom)昨日发布的中报显示出，其抢占市场份额的努力对其业绩造成了拖累。中国去年启动3G服务后，引发了激烈的竞争。

　　The world’s second-largest mobile operator said its net profit dropped 62 per cent in the first half year-on-year after it spent more than half its mobile revenue on marketing measures including subsidies for devices such as the iPhone.

　　联通表示，今年上半年净利润同比下降62%，原因是它花费了一多半的移动业务收入来实施各种营销举措，其中包括对iPhone等设备进行补贴。

　　As Unicom has struggled to keep up with its two competitors in the pace of picking up new high-end subscribers, the company is suffering most from the fierce competition in the 3G segment.

　　联通高端用户的增速一直难以赶上它的两个竞争对手，它在3G领域的竞争激烈中受影响最大。

　　China Mobile, the world’s largest operator, saw net earnings rise 4 per cent year-on-year in the first half, while China Telecom, the smallest of China’s three carriers, said net profit was flat.

　　全球最大的移动运营商——中国移动(China Mobile)上半年的净利润同比增长了4%；而中国三大移动运营商中规模最小的中国电信(China Telecom)表示，其上半年的净利润与去年同期持平。

　　Unicom said handset subsidies would rise further in the second half as it plans to launch 10 smartphones before the end of the year. However, profitability would improve as the company’s 3G business took off, said Tong Jilu, chief financial officer.

　　联通表示，它在下半年将进一步加大对手机的补贴，并拟在今年年底前推出10款智能手机。不过，联通首席财务官佟吉禄表示，随着该公司的3G业务开始腾飞，其盈利水平也会有所提高。

　　Net profit for the first six months was Rmb2.5bn ($368m), down from Rmb6.6bn during the same period last year.

　　联通上半年的净利润为25亿元人民币（合3.68亿美元），低于去年同期的66亿元人民币。

　　Average revenue per user, already the lowest among the three carriers, also continued to slide, but the company said it was confident it would keep Arpu levels for 3G users at above Rmb100 a month.

　　每用户平均收入(ARPU)也继续出现下滑——联通的ARPU原本就是三大运营商中最低的。但该公司表示，有信心把3G用户的ARPU值保持在每月100元人民币以上。

　　Smartphones are key to this. As China’s urban mobile markets are nearing saturation, the carriers can only expand their user base by adding customers in smaller towns or the countryside, who tend to have lower incomes and spend less.

　　智能手机是实现这一目标的关键。随着中国城市移动市场接近饱和，运营商们若想扩大自己的用户基础，只能依靠在中小城镇或农村招揽用户，但居住在那些地方的人往往收入和支出水平都较低。

　　To balance that, all three carriers are bent on making top-end customers spend more; especially by using data applications on 3G.

　　为了弥补这方面的劣势，三大运营商均力争让高端用户增加支出，特别是通过使用3G数据应用来增加支出。