▶ Taiwanese computer makers now compete directly with the West.
Taiwanese technology companies are redefining themselves. At the Computex show in Taipei, Acer laptops were prominently displayed.
By ASHLEE VANCE
TAIPEI, Taiwan - For more than a decade, Western technology companies and Taiwanese manufacturers had a simple, mutually beneficial arrangement.
The Taiwanese companies built music players, laptops and cellphones to precise specifications dictated by customers like Apple, Hewlett- Packard and Motorola. The Western companies then slapped their familiar labels on the devices, marked up the prices and bombarded consumers with advertisements celebrating their innovative wares.
But in the last couple of years, that tight relationship has begun to fray. No longer content to lurk in the background, some of the Taiwanese companies have sought a more direct route to consumers - and the higher profits that come with owning a global brand.
A few of the Taiwanese companies have even developed reputations as technology leaders. With its Eee PC, Asustek practically invented the most popular category of personal computers today: the ultralight Weboriented laptops known as netbooks.
Acer, poised to overtake Dell as the world’s second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard, has used its manufacturing might to produce powerful PCs that it can sell more cheaply than its competitors.
And HTC developed the first smartphones to use Google’s Android operating system, becoming a showcase for the potential of the new software.
“There is a strong desire in the Taiwanese industry to try and break through,” said Mark Lee, a Taiwan native who runs a software start-up in Silicon Valley called DeviceVM. “I think the industry is going through that big transformation right now.”
Nowhere is the transformation more clear than in the market for netbooks. Acer and Asustek claim about two-thirds of the nascent category, whose sales have soared despite an overall plunge in PC sales.
In addition, Asustek ended last year as the fastest-growing PC company in Europe. Acer, which sells computers under its own name as well as through acquired brands Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell, is the fastest-growing PC maker over all, according to the research company Gartner.
Despite their sales gains, the Taiwanese companies still have a long way to go to match the marketing flair of an Apple or H.P. Their brands, while strong in Asia, remain largely unknown to consumers in other parts of the world. And a tradition of secrecy has led to an awkward relationship with the news media.
“They have to adapt and sort that stuff out,” said Mark Hamblin, who helped develop the touch-screen technology for the Apple iPhone and now runs Touch Revolution in San Francisco. “But if someone with that Taiwan base really figures that side out, they will be very, very successful.”
The changing role of the Taiwanese manufacturers was apparent at the annual Computex technology trade show in Taipei from June 2-6.
Traditionally, the event has focused on manufacturers’ showing off their latest wares to current and potential partners. Thousands of people come to see components such as power supplies and the fans used to cool computers. Signs herald “overclocking memory with the latest heat spreader,” language that, while foreign to most people, makes hardware enthusiasts drool.
Recently, though, exhibitors at Computex have started to promote much more than their latest circuit boards. Local and foreign companies now use the show to introduce products that they hope will shake up the computing market.
Two years ago, Asustek introduced the Eee PC at Computex. The small, cheap laptop ignited a wave of enthusiasm in the PC industry. Now, all of the major computer makers sell similar products.
Acer, Asustek and HTC stand out as the most prominent examples of Taiwanese companies entering the spotlight.
In the last few years, Acer and Asustek have split off their manufacturing arms and chosen to compete directly against the likes of H.P. and Dell in the PC market with their own brands.
“Acer started doing their own brand, and they started seeing their profits go up and up,” said Joseph Wei, who runs SJW Consulting, a Silicon Valley business that links United States and Asian technology companies. “So the Taiwanese government started to encourage more companies to follow this model.”
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