Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 The Apple Suppliers’ Scramble

When the Iphone5 didn’t take China by storm, investors were disappointed to say the least.

Because the stock didn’t grow in late December of 2012, Apple’s stock took a major 10% plunge. This caused a lot of the major suppliers to scramble for marketshare elsewher.

There’s a quick and easy way to describe how these suppliers are trying to out do each other in their quest to find more marketshare with one Chinese idiom – 争先恐后!

争先恐后(zhēng xiān kǒng hòu): out doing one another; scrambling; striving to be first and fearing to be last

A breakdown of the characters in 争先恐后(zhēng xiān kǒng hòu):

争(zhēng): strive. 争着(zhēng zhe).
先(xiān): first. 前面(qián miàn).
恐(kǒng): for fear of. 唯恐(wéi kǒng).
后(hòu): behind. 后面(hòu miàn).

Let’s take a look at some examples in the wild.

Usage 1: As a Verb

Example A:

 

“zhōng guó A gǔ diē diē bù xiū, ér qǐ yè IPO què zhēng xiān kǒng hòu“.
“中国A股跌跌不休，而企业IPO却争先恐后“。

“China’s A shares are fluctuating endlessly, and their IPO is striving to be the best“

Example B:

 

“rén men wǎng wǎng duì shàng tiān gěi yǔ de jī huì shú shì wú dǔ, ér duì yú rén wéi de jī huì què zhēng xiān kǒng hòu “.
“人们往往对上天给予的机会熟视无睹，而对于人为的机会却争先恐后“。

“People tend to turn a blind eye towards God given opportunities, yet amongst each other, scramble to out do one another.”

Example C:

 

“dì fāng zhèng fǔ duì dì chǎn pào mò jiù wán quán shàng yǐn le, gè dì zhèng fǔ zhēng xiān kǒng hòu, fēn fēn xiào fǎng “
“地方政府对地产泡沫就完全上瘾了，各地政府争先恐后，纷纷效仿 “。

“The local government is completely addicted to the real estate boom, every local government is scrambling to follow suit”

 

Usage 2: 争先恐后+(地)+Verb

Example A:

 

“yīng guó gè dà xué zhèng zhēng xiān kǒng hòu de xī yǐn tā men rù xué, yǐ zēng jiā xué xiào de shōu rù “
“英国各大学正争先恐后地吸引他们入学，以增加学校的收入“。

“British universities are scrambling to out do one another for prospective students, in order to increase their university’s profits”

Example B:

 

“lín jìn chūn jié, bù shǎo kāi fā shāng wèi le jǐn kuài huí lóng zī jīn, zhēng xiān kǒng hòu de dǎ xiǎng le xīn chūn yíng xiāo zhàn “
“临近春节，不少开发商为了尽快回笼资金，争先恐后地打响了新春营销战 “。

“With the Spring Festival approaching, a lot of developers who are looking to return funds as soon as possible, are scrambling for profit off the New Year marketing campaign battle.”

Example C:

“měi wū zhōng guó 12 gè hēi kè tuán duì zhēng xiān kǒng hòu tōu qiè měi guó jī mì “
“美诬中国12个黑客团队争先恐后偷窃美国机密 “

“Americans falsely accused 12 Chinese hackers for scrambling to steal American secrets”