Chinese Automakers Eye Tapping Taiwanese ICT Expertise

Taipei, Dec. 14, 2012 (CENS)--Taiwan has strong advantages in world-class information and communication technology (ICT), semiconductor and electronics component industries, and the island has been rapidly building its automotive-electronics production systems, making it the best partner for Chinese automakers, said Arthur Chiao, chairman of Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA), at the second Cross Strait Automotive Electronics Forum recently held in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province of China, during which many Chinese automakers expressed strong willingness to cooperate with ICT companies in Taiwan to jointly tap the big automotive-electronics market in China.

Quoting statistics compiled by the Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, Chiao said that the Chinese automotive electronics market hit US$16.4 billion in 2011, and the annual value is expected to increase to some US$23.4 billion, making it the world's largest market. However, the chairman added, more than 60% of the automotive-electronics market in China is controlled by international players, who control 80%-plus the passenger-car auto-parts segment.

So, Chiao said, most Chinese vehicle makers have been trying vigorously to develop own technologies to shed the foreign monopoly, hence setting up opportunities for Taiwan.

More and more ICT companies in Taiwan focus on the automotive-electronics field, whose products have evolved from body electronics, driver information systems in the early stage to core items such as vehicle control systems and products. An increasingly mature automotive supply chain is rapidly developing in Taiwan, the chairman said.

TEEMA now has more than 3,600 members whose total annual production value is about US$260 billion, and Taiwan's ICT industry has 15 globally-leading products, Chiao said, but Taiwanese companies still face difficulties in entering the business.