????2012年是三星電子（Samsung Electronics）大獲豐收的一年。上周晚些時候，這家韓國電子巨頭宣布，由于蓋世（Galaxy）系列智能手機的熱賣，公司2012年第四季度凈利潤相比去年同期暴漲76%。據調研機構策略分析公司（Strategy Analytics）最新發布的報告預計，三星2012年智能手機的總出貨量達到2.13億部，創下單個手機廠商年出貨量的歷史記錄。三星目前在全球智能手機市場的份額為30%，而其主要競爭對手蘋果（Apple）僅為19%。

????雖然三星已經毫無疑問地登上了智能手機冠軍寶座，但其必須奮發圖強，保住來之不易的勝利果實。它意味著三星要在硬件上大量創新，同時向客戶提供更多的軟件服務。唯有如此，才能繼續保持其手機的吸引力。

????在北美等發達市場，智能手機銷量增速已逐漸放緩。策略分析公司高級分析師尼爾?沙在最近的公司報告中寫道：“隨著智能手機在北美和西歐等發達地區大量普及，它的全球出貨量增速已從2011年的64%下滑至2012年的43%。”而在其它市場，不斷涌現的廉價智能手機——大部分也是搭載谷歌（Google）Android操作系統——可能對三星造成威脅。上周，三星在發布財報時曾明確警告智能手機需求或將放緩。三星在新聞稿中稱：“去年全球智能手機市場經歷了爆炸式增長，但隨著新產品不斷上市和價格競爭加劇，今年智能手機增速將會放緩。”

????因為大部分新產品也搭載了Android系統，所以三星需要盡可能使自己的手機與眾不同。三星是毋庸置疑的硬件專家，不斷創新并大批量生產硬件，規模之大，可謂史無前例——三星自行制造絕大部分智能手機硬件，從高端屏幕到四核處理器，悉數囊括。三星還耗資千萬美元，在蘋果的自留地美國進行了一場空前成功的廣告營銷。不過，三星能否稱雄軟件生態系統領域仍然是個未知數。蘋果和谷歌的內容服務、應用程序商店和操作系統在此早已根深蒂固。歸根到底：如果在消費者眼中，三星是與音樂或地圖等關鍵服務聯系在一起，那么他們更有可能認為三星手機比其它較便宜的手機更有價值。

????如果三星真的想在軟件大戰中有所作為——無論是繼續依托于Android開發，還是另起爐灶，推出自家操作系統——它都應該增加在硅谷的投資，擴大在硅谷的實力。畢竟，硅谷聚集了大量移動軟件人才。而三星似乎正在這樣做。去年12月，三星宣布將在圣何塞興建面積達110萬平方英尺的研發中心。三星還計劃在帕洛阿爾托建立一家新創企業孵化公司，并將在下月披露更多有關“旨在推動硅谷創新理念和促進新創企業發展”的信息。

????It's been a very good year for Samsung Electronics. Late last week the Korean hardware giant announced that its fourth-quarter profit rose a whopping 76% from the year before, mainly due to strong sales of its popular Galaxy line of smartphones. Overall, the company shipped an estimated 213 million smartphones in 2012, the largest amount ever shipped by a single vendor in one year, according to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics. Samsung now owns 30% of the global smartphone market, ahead of archrival Apple's 19% share.

????But while Samsung has clearly achieved world domination, it will have to move fast to hold on to that title. That means churning out even more hardware innovations and delivering software services that will make its devices stickier with consumers.

????In developed markets like North America, growth in smartphone sales is already waning. "Global shipment growth slowed from 64% in 2011 to 43% in 2012 as penetration of smartphones began to mature in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe," Neil Shah, a senior analyst with Strategy Analytics, wrote in the company's recent report. In other markets, an influx of cheaper devices—many of them also built on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system—could threaten Samsung. The company issued its own not-so-subtle warning of slowing demand when it announced earnings last week. In a press release, Samsung said the "furious growth spurt seen in the global smartphone market last year is expected to be pacified by intensifying price competition compounded by a slew of new products."

????Because many of these new products also run on Android, Samsung will need to do more to differentiate itself from the pack. It's already proven that it can innovate and mass-produce hardware on an unprecedented scale—the company makes many of its smartphones' building blocks, from high-end screens to quad-core processors. It's also poured millions of dollars into a remarkably successful ad campaign that knocks Apple (AAPL) in its own backyard (the U.S. market). But what it hasn't done is prove that it can compete on the software ecosystem front, where Apple and Google's content services, app stores and operating systems rule. It comes down to this: If consumers associate Samsung with crucial services like music or mapping, they're more likely to see their shiny piece of hardware as more valuable than another, possibly cheaper shiny piece of hardware.

????If the company was serious about competing in the software battle—whether it chooses to build on top of Android or promote its own operating system—then it would probably need to increase its presence and investment in the Silicon Valley, where a large pool of mobile software talent now resides. It appears to be doing just that—finally. In December Samsung announced it is building out a 1.1-million-square-foot R&D center in San Jose. It also plans to open a new startups incubator in Palo Alto, and is expected to unveil more details about its "vision for accelerating innovative ideas and start-ups in Silicon Valley" next month.