Taiwan at CeBIT 2008: PCs & Consumer Electronics
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Dear Reader:
This 4 th of 11 dedicated Taiwan Pavilions is located in Hall 21 with the sub-categories: UMPC ( ultra miniature pocket PCs ) Notebook PCs, Panel PCs, Ruggedized PCs, Digital Photo Frames, Portable Media Players, MP3 and PMP.
Our Pavilion exhibitors include names like AMTEK with touch tablet PCs, our very old friend Clevo with notebook PCs, Samwell International with ruggedized tablet PCs and computers as well as ruggedized PDAs ( For the uninitiated ,"ruggedized," , means fortified construction for withstanding manhandling in rough ambient conditions ). Then, we have Datafab Systems with a wide range of digital photo frames, digital signage products and flash players.
Billionton Systems ( slogan: " The last word in mobile connectivity " ) offering Bluetooth devices for every purpose, Ethernet devices, modems, USB/1394 host cards, wireless communication for data and voice transfer in one simple adapter and other peripheral devices. Further to mention Keen High Mediatech with flash mp3 players as well as PMP and flash USB sticks. And, if you are looking for real consumer gadgets , a must-see is InterBrands, originally a mass manufacturer of sunglasses, now diversifying into sunglasses with integrated MP3 players and Bluetooth devices, also displaying portable outdoor speaker cases.
There are also individual exhibitors from Taiwan in Hall 21: MSI , a major player with subsidiaries in 18 countries for mainboards, notebooks, communication equipment and multimedia, demonstrating confidence in the new CeBIT by upholding their impressive 500 sqm stand . Then, ECS ( Elitegroup ) known, of course, for mainboards, notebooks and graphic cards, and Gigabyte , another giant with 11 foreign subsidiaries and a huge portfolio from mobile computers to mobile phones.
Taiwan manufacturers delivered nine million digital photo frames in 2007 and sources indicate that demand will increase by 70% in 2008.
Taiwan, including offshore plants, still controls 90% of the world notebook market, but with profit margins now so thin that only the giants which can amortize cost over volumes will survive, and even they have to rationalize to the point influencing trade fair expenses – and CeBIT 2008 will also be a mirror of that situation. Further, you will see movements in the notebook scene, where so far performance had priority over the price, with the advent of small-screen stripped-down versions, originally intended for educational purposes in developing countries, but instead of that surprisingly making inroads to rich customers worldwide who are "developed" enough to realize that these basic units actually offer all the computing power they realistically need. Which will make it - - the Lenovo UMPC idea with a tiny hard disk, or the Asustek Eee design philosophy with flash memory ? They will fight it out in the market place, and that is, of course, CeBIT.
And now for something completely different:
If you know your suppliers from nothing else but advertisings and e-mails, are you really prepared to face them at CeBIT ? After all, how much is a contract worth if it turns out later in the year that your partner cannot meet his obligations, simply because the actualities of the situation are no longer what they were at the time when you negotiated the deal ? Therefore, it is imperative to do your homework and tap all news you can get about the rapidly changing political, economic and structural developments in your vendors' countries, because they have consequences for your procurement decisions. But how to ?
There is definitely no shortage of big and well-staffed competent news services and research institutions covering Asia's ICT, from the free-of-charge to the exorbitantly expensive, in print and online - - and then, there is the forlorn writer of this, a veteran of foreign trade. His mother did not need to bathe his body in dragon blood to become invulnerable like young Siegfried in the Nibelungen Saga - - 40 years of Hannover Fairs and 30 years of Taiwan perfectly did the trick ! Now, blessed with the mildness of old age, he is sharing this life experience with you through this humble publication, which we by routine explain to new readers once a year, viz:
TAIWAN TECHNOLOGY,
a periodic periodical
targeting the world to promote the ICT of Taiwan
published in the interest of profit only
This is a publication of Hannover Pacific Corp., the Taiwan representative of Deutsche Messe. Its scope: Trade fair related information - - a data bank of sponsoring suppliers, mostly CeBIT exhibitors - - a product news section - - a headline news section, condensed from the huge pile of daily grapevine, weighted by its value for buyers only - - and editorials, called e-papers, like this one.
The above starting remark is not coincidental, but highly topical! There are changes coming up ! I recommend that you read three rather comprehensive stories:
"Still Going Strong, but the Game is Changing - - A Survey of the ICT Sector of Taiwan ", a 6.500 word (!) analysis by courtesy of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. When you are through with it, you know how to assess this country's ICT, its outlook and its interdependency with China - - and the impact on your business !
And then, two real "hammers": "2008: The Year of Reckoning" and : "Major Challenges in a New Year" - - two English translations from Taiwan's distinguished Chinese language CommonWealth magazine about two new laws and seven new policies which will alter completely how foreign-invested firms are forced to do business in China from now on. An end seems looming to the present gold digging era of ruthless labor exploitation and low taxation with ensuing rock-bottom prices because of increases in operation costs and operational complexity that come close to the German model of workers rights and social justice. The Chinese learned their bureaucracy from Germany and developed it to a fine art, and the new laws show how fast they are learning !
These three stories are not available from our front page -- send me a short e-mail request if you will so, and I hope that you so will. It's just a test to learn how many of our 30.000 subscribers really desire this kind in-depth intelligence in future.
And here comes CeBIT ! The whole world relies on manufacturing in China, even other Asian ICT countries. You must investigate the new situation and its consequences for your procurements. And you can only do it the old fashioned way, by exchanging views and by talking square, from face-to-face ! Everybody who has a say in the ICT trade will be at CeBIT - - and so should you !
Only for you: How to enter CeBIT free of charge !
For you trade professional and loyal reader here is your invitation to CeBIT by a free e-ticket: Just send an e-mail to cebit.tickets@messe.de , type into the reference line " Code 0019 CeBIT Invitation 2008 " and ask for your personal e-ticket. You will receive a digital trade visitor's ticket which you actuate by registering at www.cebit.de . Having done that from the comfort of your home, in Hannover you can bypass all waiting lines, registration desks and cashiers and pridefully stalk into the fairground, ready for business:
CeBIT Hannover - - where to look for what you need !
Yours truly,
And here, some previews from our exhibitors:
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AMtek iTablet & iTouch Tablet series, consisting of T200 (Digitizer) & T201 (Touch panel)), have already set an entirely new benchmark for Tablet PC category in 2007. However, what comes in the wake of T200 & T201? The new generation is going to hit the market at the beginning of 2008. ........more |
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The overclocking memory module specialist, Walton Chaintech, announced today its success in developing the world fastest DDR3 2000MHz memory module. With its high data rate, APOGEE GT DDR3 2000 Blazer series has turned out to be the best overclocking tool to bring out CPU performance.......more |
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