05 October 2008

Taiwan Top Brands 2008

China Economic News (CENS) reports the Taiwan External Trade Development Council has release a list of the top 20 brands in 2008. CENS writes:

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) will officially unveil Taiwan’s top-20 international brands Sept. 30, which bear an estimated production value of US$9.141 billion, breaking the US$9 billion level the first time; and of which US$7.537 billion is generated by the top-10 brands.

The top 20 brands listed alphabetically are:

  • Acer
  • Advantech
  • Asus
  • Biostar
  • Danze
  • D-Link
  • Depo
  • Genius
  • Giant
  • HTC
  • Johnson
  • Leadtek
  • MasterKong
  • Maxxis
  • Merida
  • MSI
  • Synnex
  • Transcend
  • TrendMicro
  • Uni-President
  • Zyxel

According to CENS:

TAITRA reportedly cooperates with Interbrand, a U.K.-based branding consultant, to organize the yearly event, which has been gaining increasing attention in recent years, hence drawing increasingly more Taiwan manufacturers to vie for the coveted title.

Yes, as we have discussed before, branding for Taiwan is becoming and imperative but so few companies do it well. Some heads of the giant companies in Taiwan agree. According to the Taipei Times:

The future of business in Taiwan lies in branding, no matter how difficult it is to achieve, Acer Inc (宏碁) founder Stan Shih (施振榮) said at a business seminar in Taipei on Saturday.

“The days of doing OEM [original equipment manufacturing] and ODM [original design manufacturing] are numbered,” Shih said. “Perhaps these businesses will thrive for another five to 10 years, I don’t know. But going forward, in order to elevate Taiwan to the global business scene with added value, we have to invest in branding right now. This is our social responsibility.”

Stan Shih received support from HTC head Peter Chou.

High Tech Computer Corp (HTC, 宏達電) president Peter Chou (周永明) was the other guest of honor at the seminar on Saturday. Echoing Shih’s stance on the future of Taiwan, he said: “Manufacturing is no longer a value Taiwan businesses can provide. Vietnam, China and other emerging countries are quickly catching up.”

Branding in Taiwan is very important but so few companies know how to do it well. Many companies think sticking a name on a product is equivalent to branding the product and see that as the end of the game. Taiwanese tech companies need to learn that branding is an essential part of their future and learn how to do it properly.

CENS: Top-20 Global Brands in Taiwan Worth More Than US$9 B.
Taipei Times: Acer head stresses branding at Taipei business seminar

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