spotlight on TAIWAN
spotlight on TAIWAN Region Taiwan Extends Global Reach Adapting to the new global reality Taiwan becomes a key brand player Taiwan Remains No.1 in Over 12 ICT Product Categories Worldwide. Taiwan forms an indispensable part of the global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, and business opportunities created by Taiwan’s large-scale manufacturing are being avidly pursued by technology firms from across the world. Taiwan’s competitiveness in the industry is drawn from its well established production pipeline, highly experienced engineers and strong R&D capabilities. According to statistics from Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III), Taiwan is top in worldwide market share in over 12 product categories including cable CPE (96.2%), notebook PC (89.4%), and tablet devices (86.5%). Other product areas in which Taiwan has top ranking include WLAN NIC, motherboards, LCD monitors, IP phone, desktop PC, and smartphones. Moreover, the island serves as a major procurement center for global ICT companies and buyers. Taiwan remains the world’s number one producer of notebook computers, with average monthly production known to exceed 14 million units. The booming notebook industry, accordingly, has provided an excellent base for Taiwan to build up its IC design and display panel industries. What's more, the island's ICT sector is expected to keep booming through 2015 on six kinds of globally hotselling electronic devices, namely, smartphones, tablet PCs, ultrabooks, smart TVs, e-book readers and cloud computing applications. Taiwan's ICT industry has been making the news over the past year with a raft of big takeovers and major investments. Walter Yeh, Executive Vice-president of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) says that these seismic changes in the country's major industry sector have seen it evolve from an abundant OEM and ODM centre into a significant brand player on the global market by investing heavily in R&D. "The transformation in Taiwan's electronic industry from being the world's factory supply base for ICT into a key global player means that many of our brands now hold a unique market position and have captured the hearts of the customer," says Yeh who qualifies this achievement with a cautious note: "This new status isn’t good enough since global competition has stiffened with slowing markets. As a result, companies in Taiwan are extending their global reach and adding more value to their products through various mergers and alliances. For all parties this has created a win-win situation in technology, strategy and financing." Taiwan holds a dominant global share in more than 10 ICT products, including notebook/netbook PCs, motherboards, wireless LAN equipment and routers. But Yeh says that longterm leadership in ICT must not be taken for granted. "Vast resources have been committed to R&D to offer even better products,” he says. “It is Taiwan’s persistence in innovation that sets it apart both in the industry and on the market." Taiwan holds 13th place for overall competitiveness according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum, and ranks 9th for both R&D spending and innovation. "Taiwan companies have the knack at turning many ICT dreams into real products to wow the market, and product branding through innovation is an essential step to maintain competitiveness,” Yeh says. “That also helps to explain why the big brands of Taiwan like Acer, Asus, Delta, HTC, Gigabyte and MSI all are supported by topnotch R&D." Taiwan's own major trade show Computex Tapei is organised by TAITRA and has set up a strategic alliance with IFA, where it presents its Taiwan ICT International “companies in Taiwan are extending their global reach and adding more value to their products” Walter Yeh Executive Vice-president TAITRA Press Conference & New Product Launch each year. Executives from Taiwanese giants such as Acer, Aiptek, Asus, Delta, Gigabyte, KYE, MSI and Thermaltake fly in each year to brief the media on their latest creations, branding concepts and marketing strategies. "It is at IFA where the campaign for Computex Taipei begins and where companies reveal their output that is being readied for the next quarter in Taipei. And it is IFA that connects them with the industry for that vital feedback so they can make last-minute tweaks to the products." This year TAITRA is sponsoring the COMPUTEX d&i awards winners at IFA. "Success has bred success and a growing number of Taiwan companies have applied to join this little piece of Taiwan at IFA,” Yeh says. “Meanwhile TAITRA has spared no effort to help Taiwan companies exhibit at IFA as seen in its role at the Taiwan Pavilion in the Taiwan Image Hall, that highlights the most exciting Taiwan ICT breakthroughs." The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in 1970 to promote Taiwan’s foreign trade and competitiveness on the world market. Over the past 40 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the development of the Taiwanese economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government and commercial associations, and serves as the business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community. Hall 27 Stand Taïwan Pavillon 36
spotlight on TAIWAN Region Products from Taiwan on Show at IFA Taiwan CE companies show their innovation once again at IFA. Here are some of the companies and products you will see here… MobileCinema i50S MobileCinema i50S, from Aiptek, is a gadget especially designed for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. It takes the form of a shell, which once connected to the iPhone, projects multimedia files with up to 40 lumen brightness, at a quality of 640 x 480 pixels, with a projected picture of up to 150cm (60 inches). The device can also be used as a powerful battery pack. International Inc. was founded in 1997 in Taiwan. The company develops and provides digital imaging products including 3D products, digital camcorders, pico projectors, tablets and digital pens for iPad. The German office of Aiptek, which opened in 1999 in Willich, near Dusseldorf, co-ordinates all European sales. Hall 3.2 Stand 120 The RT-AC66U WireleSS Router Asus presents the fifth generation of dual band gigabit wireless router: the RT-AC66U at IFA. The router with an 802.11accompatible chipset offers high performance and broad signal coverage. It works with a concurrent dual band of 2.4 GHZ and 5 GHz for up to super-fast 1.7 Gbps. Apart from its user-friendly interface and sufficient connection ports for PCs, smartphones, scanners and printers (two USB and four LAN ports), the RT-AC66U also combines the latest AiCloud service — Access, stream, share, sync — all on the go, with unlimited storage expansion. Asus is a worldwide leader in the field of motherboards and is in the Top 3 bestselling manufacturers of consumer notebooks. The portfolio of the company includes mainboards, graphic cards, optical drives, notebooks and tablets, as well as various wireless products and network components. The focus of the company’s objectives is innovation and product quality. Hall 23 Stand 103 Just Mobile’s Gum MobileCinema i50S Just Mobile’s Gum Gum, from Just Mobile, is a compact backup-battery for Apple devices. An aluminium shell the size of a chewing gum pack, contains a battery with the capacity to fully charge an iPhone. Just Mobile was founded in 2005 to develop accessories to complement a “highend mobile lifestyle”. The complete range of products complements Apple products including iPad, iPod and iPhone. Hall 15.1 Stand 129 The Theron Mouse The Theron Mouse, from Thermaltake Technology, is the new g a m i n g accessory of Thermaltake eSPORTS. The Theron mouse has a Teflon-covered bottom side for quick and The RT-AC66U Wireless Router precise handling. Among its features are a 100 to 5600 DPI sensor that can be adjusted manually; a 128-KBmemory, which supports up to 40 macro keys; and five game profiles, as well as two modes – for normal and for battle mode, suitable for RTS and FPS gaming. Depending on the click frequency, the mouse changes up to seven colours to indicate the users’ gaming speed and activities. Thermaltake Technology was founded in 1999. It launches products under four brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS, LUXA2 and Tt Apollos e S p o r t Professional Team. Hall 15.1 Stand 140 Navjack Expands into Samsung and HTC Product Accessories Simplicity and innovation are defining features of Navjack, the designer and manufacturer of high-end iPad and iPhone accessories. Now, the company is expanding its product lines for Samsung and HTC, and Navjack President Jack Chan says the new products will retain the company’s highend ethos. “Thanks to our experienced design and R&D teams, we are dedicated to offering distinguishing accessories for Apple, Samsung and HTC products,” says Chan. “Our brand spirit can be summed up as ‘sculpted essentials’. We believe every material contains a sculpture, and that our task is merely discovering its essence.” “Our advantage is offering distinctive protective cases and other 3C accessories, such as external speakers, power banks and headset dust caps. We are driven to keep designing more unique cases and accessories.” Chan says that Navjack’s business has developed well in the Middle East and Russia. The company’s main objective at IFA is to find suitable partners and to extend and develop its presence in the European market, he says. When asked about Navjack’s distribution methods, he stressed that the company trusts its distribution partners to promote its brand and products. “Of course, we guarantee ‘one region one distributor’, so our partners can fully develop their business and take care of their markets,” he says. Hall 15.1 Stand 111 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Saturday 1 st & Sunday 2 nd September 2012 37
