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Sony chief encourages increased collaboration

Sony President Kunitake Ando gave a speech at ROC Information Month 2000 yesterday. Ando gave strong indications that the Japanese electronics giant would soon be increasing its chip orders to Taiwan. PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwan's information technology lead over Japan should inspire increase collaboration between the two nations, the president of Sony said yesterday. He also told the nation to shift its manufacturing to China and move up the food chain to the likes of semiconductor design and software development.

"The reason I agreed to speak here today is because Japan and Taiwan have a great opportunity to collaborate," said Kunitake Ando (安藤國威), Sony's president and chief operations officer. "Taiwan is much more advanced than Japan in terms of information technology."

Ando said Japanese companies lead the world in consumer electronics products, such as digital camcorders, televisions and related electronic equipment. Taiwan's expertise in manufacturing finished high-tech products present the two countries with a great benefits from working together.

Ando specifically pointed to the outsourcing of semiconductor production to Taiwan's foundries. He says Sony plans to increase orders in the near future.

"Sony is currently the largest semiconductor purchaser in the world," Ando said.

Sony -- a US$63 billion per year company -- already sources microchips from United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯華電) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).

Although Sony expects to increase orders in the future, Ando refused to give specifics.

"That would be consistent with what UMC and TSMC have been saying," said Henry Wang (王漢寧) semiconductor analyst at EnTrust Securities (永昌綜合證券). "Both companies said Sony would become a top-10 customer in the fourth quarter of this year."

Sony has not been able to produce enough chips to keep up with demand for its consumer electronics products. Last quarter, the company announced it would need to outsource semiconductor production for PlayStation II console equipment.

Although Sony produces many of its own semiconductors, Ando said the sheer variety of Sony digital products coupled with high consumer demand force it to look elsewhere for manufacturing help.

In addition, as broadband Internet becomes more widespread, Ando expects demand for Web cams and digital camcorders for use in personal broadcasting to increase sharply.

Sony plans to encourage the creation of personal area networks (PANs) to help people keep track of family and friends through audio and video over personal Internet connections.

The company is also counting on its range of VAIO (video audio integrated operation) PCs, notebooks and Web Pads to encourage more Internet connections through smaller devices. The personal computer, said Ando, will be replaced by a variety of other electronics goods that can connect quickly to the Internet.

Sony plans to integrate VAIO PCs into home-entertainment systems, connecting consumer electronics to the VAIO and the Internet. By combining these electronics goods with a Web site for people to share their creativity over the Net, Sony hopes to upend some of the world's current Internet leaders.
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