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REVIEW 200/TAIWAN Tech Firms Are Tops in Taiwan This year's rankings, headed once again by TSMC, reflect a broad tech-industry rebound that has boosted bottom lines--and stock prices By Jason Dean/TAIPEI Issue cover-dated December 25, 2003 - January 01, 2004
Charts: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., the world's biggest producer of custom-made computer chips, once again held off the competition to retain its REVIEW 200 crown. And the company, which weathered the tech-industry slump of 2000-01 and the disappointingly flat market in 2002, is now riding what looks like a fully fledged recovery. TSMC's net profit is expected to more than double this year to $1.4 billion, according to investment bank Smith Barney, and revenue is on track to jump 26% to $6 billion, an all-time high. Chairman Morris Chang, for one, isn't looking back. For TSMC, he told investors in October, "the recovery phase has already reached its conclusion. From here on, we're in a period of creating new historic records." Indeed, the REVIEW 200 rankings for Taiwan reflect a broad tech-industry rebound that has boosted bottom lines--and stock prices--for many of Taiwan's vaunted makers of chips and other gadgets. Seven of the top 10 companies this year are in the technology sector, compared to four last year. The big winners include Quanta Computer, the world's biggest maker of notebook computers, which jumped to the No. 3 spot from 13 last year, and ASUSTeK Computer, another electronics contract manufacturer, which jumped to sixth place from 16th. Maintaining its second-place position this year is Hon Hai Precision Industry. Since starting in 1974 with a $2,600 loan from his mother, Chairman Terry Gou has built Hon Hai into Taiwan's biggest privately-owned manufacturer and the world's fourth-biggest electronics-manufacturing services company. The outsourcing giant, which began by making dials for black-and-white television sets, now assembles personal computers, cellular phones and videogame consoles, among other products, for big-name companies including Dell, Nokia, and Sony. Hon Hai's revenue, which rocketed 163% through the industry doldrums from 2000-02, is expected to rise another 23% this year to about $10 billion, according to Merrill Lynch. A relentless cost-cutter, Gou fashioned much of Hon Hai's early growth on the back of China's cheap labour. Lately, he has been looking further afield for new expansion, building factories in recent years in Scotland, the United States and the Czech Republic. In 2003, Hon Hai bought a Mexican factory from Motorola and the company is constructing another new plant in Hungary. Foreign investors love Gou's results--they own 53% of Hon Hai's shares. But Hon Hai's lack of transparency fuels doubts: While the company ranked No. 6 or higher in every other category, it polled a woeful 18th in financial soundness, worse than its 16th position in that category last year. Making its debut in the top 10 this year is MediaTek, at No. 9--another company that has experienced supercharged growth in recent years. An offshoot of the 5th-ranked company, contract chip-maker United Microelectronics Corp., MediaTek designs chips used in DVD players. Its revenue is expected to top $1.1 billion this year, according to Merrill Lynch, more than six times what it was in 1999. MediaTek is now the world's sixth-biggest semiconductor design company, and this year expanded into the market for chips used in mobile phones. Two more top-10 debutantes in 2003: At No. 7, Formosa Petrochemical, an
affiliate of fourth-placed Formosa Plastics, whose planned initial public
offering in December should make it one of Taiwan's biggest listed companies.
And at No. 10 is BenQ, a spin-off of Taiwan tech stalwart Acer. One of the few
Taiwan companies making a strong push to build a global brand, BenQ also enjoyed
its second straight year at the top of the rankings for being "innovative
in responding to customer needs." No ResultsPlease supply at least one search term. Advertise on feer.com and in FEER |
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