5 ms·
Taiwan may end up in a difficult spot in the coming decades unless they embrace production of distinctive (non-commoditized, like "iPhone" vs. "generic smartph
by weiming 8y ago
Taiwan may end up in a difficult spot in the coming decades unless they embrace production of distinctive (non-commoditized, like "iPhone" vs. "generic smartphone") consumer brands, or step up their efforts in software.
Its current strengths are in the stuff that exists inside the products we use every day. Think semiconductors and other hardware components. However, that know-how is being commoditized rapidly. China is catching up. Japanese multinationals like Sony are also eyeing the same, gradually stepping away from competing on low-margin consumer products.
For Taiwanese consumer electronics, you have brands like HTC, ASUS, Acer, or even a niche newcomer Gogoro (electric scooters). Sizeable, but not agile enough to take on players like Xiaomi.
And the software scene is unfortunately not very bustling despite the government's repeated efforts to pour money into startup hubs and coworking spaces. This is what Taiwan's #1 online shopping portal looks like [1]
[1] https://shopping.pchome.com.tw/ https://shopping.pchome.com.tw/
"Brain drain" to China and the US compounds some of these challenges. Very low salaries may be in part to blame here -- an engineer in Taiwan may make an equivalent of about $40k USD/year, while a home still costs as much as it does in Palo Alto.
- klodolph 8y agoIs China catching up? Last time I checked, TSMC was still a few nodes ahead of any Chinese fab.
- EliRivers 8y agoThat just looks like a different aesthetic. Much like Korea and Japan[1]; they could make minimalist webpages in the Western style, but they choose not to. [1] https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-different/ https://randomwire.com/why-japanese-web-design-is-so-differe... and https://www.translatemedia.com/translation-blog/website-design-in-asia-vs-the-west/ https://www.translatemedia.com/translation-blog/website-desi... and http://digitalcommunications.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2016/03/03/why-is-eastern-asian-web-design-so-busy/ http://digitalcommunications.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2016/03/03/... and so on
- weiming 8y agoIt's not the high information density on the home page (common in Asia) but the overall web design style and functionality. The site was developed over a decade ago and has many interesting bits. For example, the "show me the product I ordered" page brings you to a captured JPG screenshot of the product listing. And product listing pages look something like this: https://24h.pchome.com.tw/prod/DSAM2L-A9007SS3R https://24h.pchome.com.tw/prod/DSAM2L-A9007SS3R Contrast/compare with these main players in China: http://www.jd.com/ http://www.jd.com/ http://tmall.com/ http://tmall.com/ http://taobao.com/ http://taobao.com/
- ryanlol 8y agoIs this just a different aesthetic too http://live.pchome.com.tw/liver_form_predb.php?live_no=L17110073%27 http://live.pchome.com.tw/liver_form_predb.php?live_no=L1711...
- JoshMnem 8y ago> This is what Taiwan's #1 online shopping portal looks like I'm guessing that this opinion won't be popular here, but that is much better looking than things like Material Design. Except for the animated GIFs, I would prefer that shopping portal style without hesitation.