|
Taiwan is fast catching up with Korean IT technology, especially in producing quality semiconductor and liquid crystal display panels, which are the nation's flagship exports. In terms of individual companies, Korean firms are still ahead of their Taiwanese counterparts in sales both in the semiconductor and LCD sectors, but Taiwan has overtaken Korea in some parts on a national scale.
¡ß LCD shipments
Samsung Electronics posted US$3.25 billion and LG Philips LCD $2.78 billion in sales in the third quarter this year, taking first and second place in the global LCD panel market. Their Taiwanese rivals such as AUO ($2.06 billion) and CMO (US $1.56 billion) still have a long way to go before catching up. But combined with small and medium-sized firmed, Taiwanese electronics firms accounted for 49.2 percent based on shipments of the global market for LCD panels larger than 10 inches in the quarter, some 8 percentage points higher than the 41.4 percent posted by Korean companies. Taiwan outstripped Korea in terms of market share for the first time last year, and the gap has been growing from 6.4 percentage points in the first quarter.
¡ß Sales
Korea posted 46.7 percent and Taiwan 40.1 percent in terms of sales last year. Korea still leads this year, but the gap narrowed to 3.9 percentage points in the third quarter. In terms of operating margin, Taiwanese companies are similar or even better than their Korean counterparts. They are in a far more advantageous position than their Korean competitors in cost-saving. Korean LCD makers procure parts at home but Taiwanese makers use parts from China, which makes Taiwanese LCD products more than 10 percent cheaper, experts say.
Also, Taiwanese firms can do business with any electronics companies in the world, while the majority of Korean firms¡¯ transactions are with other group affiliates. "It¡¯s not easy for us to supply our products to competing companies, but Taiwanese firms do business with Samsung, LG, Sharp, Philips and Matsushita, which is one of their greatest advantages,¡± an executive with an IT firm here said.
¡ß Taiwan plus China
Taiwan is also seeking to dominate the semiconductor market. The chip industry there is to build an additional 18 production lines by 2008 to raise its global market share from the current 20 percent to 30 percent. Taiwanese semiconductor makers, most of whom are foundry companies, have become aggressive in investment this year. Taiwanese and Chinese semiconductor makers such as TSMC, UMC and SMIC are to triple their investment to $11 billion this year.
Taipei has started to ¡°embrace China¡± to help its semiconductor companies compete with Korean giants Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor. The Taiwanese government recently announced it will slash investment regulations on domestic semiconductor makers doing business in China. As a result, Taiwanese memory chip makers including Powerchip Semiconductor Coporation (PSC) and ProMOS Technologies are to start construction of cutting-edge 300 mm-wafer semiconductor production lines in China. The Taiwanese government lifted some regulations on semiconductor makers investing in China in 2002 but has been negative about moving cutting edge domestic production lines there.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
