Published: March 13, 2010
Taiwan ICT Industry Backgrounder
TAIPEI, Taiwan - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Many of Taiwan's information and communications technology (ICT)
companies are moving up the global supply chain by building their own
brands. Taiwanese companies today account for about three-quarters of
the world's production of PCs and half of the world's liquid-crystal
displays (LCDs). In addition, Taiwan makes about a quarter of the
world's semiconductors and about a fifth of the world's mobile phones.
With a population of only 23 million, Taiwan's well-educated,
industrious people have carved out a huge niche in the global ICT
industry.
The close proximity of electronics companies in Taiwan has led to the
formation of industrial clusters that offer clear cost and
time-to-market advantages, making Taiwan an excellent one-stop shop for
procurement, design support and rapid commercialization of product
ideas. Now, many of Taiwan's biggest brands are tapping this same local
manufacturing expertise to offer consumers innovative products and
better value.
Market research companies expect the consumer electronics industry to
return to growth this year, and virtually all of Taiwan's electronics
industry segments making PCs, LCDs and chips rebounded strongly in the
fourth quarter last year. After a 6.7 percent drop in 2009, the global
consumer electronics market is expected to achieve a mild recovery,
according to iSuppli Corp. Revenue will expand by 1.6 percent partly
because of improving sales of LCD TVs, digital set-top boxes and
appliances, iSuppli said in a January report.
The Taiwan ICT industry has grown to a size that has resulted in
substantial diversification, and many large companies have separated
manufacturing units from branded operations in order to allow greater
specialization in both of these areas.
One example is Acer Inc., which last year rose in the rankings to become
the world's second-largest PC maker by market share. Acer has spun off
its production units into separate companies including Wistron
Corporation. Wistron manufactures for a wide range of companies
including some of the best-known brands in the notebook computer and
e-book business.
Many other companies in Taiwan are taking the same direction.
ASUSTek Computer Inc., owner of the ASUS brand, has become familiar to
many around the world as the creator of the netbook computer. ASUSTek
has spun off its manufacturing operations into a separate company called
Pegatron Corp.
Taiwan's PC industry, which accounts for about three quarters of the
world's production, had a strong rebound from the global economic slump
during the fourth quarter last year. Taiwan's PC industry revenues in
the fourth quarter of 2009 rose by 20 percent to NT$826.4 billion
(US$25.8 billion) from NT$687.2 billion in the same period a year
earlier, according to information that listed companies post to the
Taiwan stock exchange.
D-Link Corp. and ZyXEL Communications Corp are among the world's largest
network equipment brands. D-Link several years ago spun off its
manufacturing arm to become Alpha Networks Inc. and focused on building
the D-Link brand.
Taiwan's network equipment industry has also bounced back from the
economic slump in 2009. During the fourth quarter of 2009, Taiwan's
network equipment industry had a 20 percent jump in revenues to NT$35.9
billion from NT$30 billion in the same period a year earlier, according
to information the companies provided the Taiwan stock exchange.
To promote Taiwan's industry, the government has made the development of
branding the key task for raising the competitiveness of Taiwan's
economy. There are two ultimate goals of the Branding Taiwan programme.
The first is integrating resources to assist the establishment of brands
and create a favourable environment for development. The second is to
aid Taiwan enterprises in brand development and increase the value of
Taiwan's international brands.
Taiwan companies are also among the world's leaders in products that
save energy and reduce carbon emissions. These include companies making
light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells.
Taiwan has the world's second largest LED industry with about a quarter
of the world market. LEDs reduce energy consumption by emitting light
from a chip rather than an incandescent filament in a light bulb or
charged gases in a fluorescent light tube. LEDs use about a tenth of the
energy of an incandescent bulb and can last a decade or longer. They
also produce almost no heat, thereby reducing fire potential. LEDs are
poised to take a larger portion of the multi-billion dollar market away
from light bulbs and tubes as the new technology becomes more mature and
manufacturing costs fall.
Taiwan's LED makers include Arima Optoelectronics Corp., Bright LED
Electronics Corp., Epistar Corp., Everlight Electronic Co., Formosa
Epitaxy, Genesis Photonics Inc., Harvatek, I-Chiun Precision, Ligitek,
Opto Tech and Unity Opto Technology Co.
Likewise, solar cells, which generate electricity from sunlight, have
become more important as nations around the world try to reduce their
dependence on fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions.
Taiwan's solar cell companies include Motech Industrial Inc., Gintech
Energy Corp., E-Ton Solar Tech, Sino-American Silicon Products Inc.
Sinonar Corp. and Green Energy Technology.
Acer Inc.
http://www.acer.com/public/home.jsp
Wistron Corp.
http://www.wistron.com.tw/
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
http://www.asus.com
Pegatron Corp.
http://www.pegatroncorp.com/en/index.htm
D-Link Corp.
http://www.dlink.com/
Alpha Networks Inc.
http://www.alphanetworks.com/
Opto Tech Corp.
http://www.opto.com.tw/about_who.aspx
Arima Optoelectronics Corp.
http://www.aocepi.com.tw/html/
Bright LED Electronics Corp.
http://www.brtled.com/
Epistar Corp.
http://www.brtled.com/
Everlight Electronic Co.
http://www.everlight.com/normal.php?id=90
Formosa Epitaxy
http://www.forepi.com.tw/pages/about_company.htm
Genesis Photonics Inc.
http://www.g-photonics.com/eng/product.htm
Harvatek
http://www.harvatek.com/eng/index.php
I-Chiun Precision
http://www.i-chiun.com.tw/
Ligitek
http://www.ligitek.com/
Unity Opto Technology Co.
http://www.unityopto.com.tw/
Motech Industrial Inc.
http://www.motechind.com/
Gintech Energy Corp.
http://www.gintechenergy.com/
E-Ton Solar Tech
http://www.e-tonsolar.com/company.htm
Sino-American Silicon Products Inc.
http://www.saswafer.com/index/index_tw.aspx
Sinonar Corp.
http://www.sinonar.com.tw/
Green Energy Technology
http://www.getinc.com.tw/
About Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in
1970 to promote Taiwan's foreign trade and competitiveness in world
markets. Over the past 39 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the
development of the Taiwan economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the
government and commercial associations and is viewed by all as the
business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community.
Please visit www.taiwantrade.com.tw
or www.brandingtaiwan.org
for more information.
TAITRA at CeBIT 2010
For more details about TAIWAN highlighted products, please come visit us
at Hall 17, Stand C70 from 2nd to 6th March
TAITRA at CeBIT 2010
Michelle WU, +49.151.5171.2942 (mobile)
+886.2.2725.5200
ext. 1319
michellewu@taitra.org.tw
or
GolinHarris
in Taiwan
Alan Patterson, +886.2.2722.5369 ext.165
zpatterson@golinharris.com
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