At the dawn of our translation business (2001), technical translations from German accounted for 25% of the total. Translations from French - 7%, Spanish - 3-5%. There were also other languages in the orders, but their total share did not exceed 2-3% per month. Everything else - about 45-50% - English.
Ten years later, the dominance of the English language has become absolute. About 80-85% of the total work of our company was translations from English and vice versa.
Since 2014, there have been timid attempts from the Chinese language to occupy the niche of technical translations. Translations of patents into Chinese, instructions from Chinese rarely, but diluted the bureau`s statistics and made it possible to maintain good cooperation with professional translators.
Now that rising tensions between China and America have made China an increasingly uncomfortable place to do business, a new vector of "language orientation" has begun to take shape. India and Vietnam are striving to create their own manufacturers and suppliers. The growth of factories in southern India marks a new chapter in history.
In the case of the Apple, one can see that the success of the past two decades is partly the result of a big bet on China. Apple has relied on Chinese factories, which now produce more than 90% of its products. However, economic and geopolitical shifts are forcing the company to start a hasty exit from the country. Moving away from China marks a big shift for Apple and symbolizes an even bigger shift for the global economy. Vietnam and India are the main beneficiaries of this strategic shift.
As Apple`s manufacturing system changes, its suppliers are also diversifying outside of China. Another motive is cost containment. The average wage in China has doubled over the past decade. By 2020, a Chinese manufacturing worker typically earned $530 a month, about twice as much as in India or Vietnam.
How does this affect translation services?
The share of the English language is beginning to decline, we can see this in the statistics of popular languages, which we publish monthly. The share of languages such as Hindi, Arabic, Korean and Vietnamese is growing. The process, as they say, has begun. We observe and study.
