Information Technology Landscape in Taiwan
Telecommunication infrastructure
Liberalization and deregulation
Analysis: IT strengths and weaknesses
IT industry thriving in Taiwan
Taiwan is the third-largest overall IT producer in the world (after the US and Japan) with domestic and offshore production in 1998 totaling US$33.6 billion, growth of 11.4% over 1997, according to The Market Intelligence Center (MIC)-a section of the Institute for Information Industry (III).Taiwan ranked the second highest for mobile phone usage and Internet penetration rate in Asia (after Hong Kong).
Taiwan ranked number one in terms of worldwide production volume for 12 IT product categories in 1999: notebook PCs (60%), monitors (58.2%), motherboards (79%), switching power supplies (66%), desktop scanners (84.5%), keyboards (64.8%), mice (60.2%), hand-held scanners (96%), cases (75.2%), sound cards (48.7%), video cards (40.0%), and modems (figure not available).
Taiwan plays a major role in desktop computer manufacturing. Taiwan-produced computers carry the brand names of nearly all the top names in the global IT industry, including Compaq, IBM, Dell, and NEC, among many others.
Many top international name brands are now turning to Taiwan companies for the manufacture of notebook computers as well. Taiwan produces approximately one-third of all notebook PCs on the world market. This is expected to reach almost 50% by year-end 2000.
Many of Taiwan's leading IT companies are also making a big splash in the world market with their own brand products, including Acer, MiTAC, Proton, UMAX, and Trend Micro.
Taiwan is a global power in the semiconductor industry, currently ranked second worldwide, behind only the US (year 2000). Taiwan is first in the world in pure foundry production, thanks to its two biggest integrated circuit manufacturers, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which produce ICs for the world's leading high-technology companies.
Although still a fledgling industry, Taiwan's software industry is experiencing rapid growth. Total domestic software production rose by over 25% in 1998. This figure is expected to grow further in the next few years, in part due to the establishment of a software park in suburban Taipei and an IT park in Hualien County in eastern Taiwan.
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This page is created by Edward Chang Page last updated on December 19, 2000