To cope with excess competition and limited market share, local print media ventures are eyeing the China market for expansion, an industry veteran said yesterday.
"With China's significant consumer market and high-development potential, entering that market is very important for the survival of local media," said Ralph Chien (簡瑞甫), a senior executive at the Magazine Business Association of Taipei (台北市雜誌公會).
At last count there were 21 national newspapers -- more than twice the number in Malaysia, which has a similar-sized population to Taiwan. In addition, hundreds of magazines of every variety overflow store shelves.
"The prospects for rapid growth in the China market are exciting and attractive to many publishing investors around the world," said Donald Kummerfeld, president of the London-based International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP). "Taiwan ventures are poised to be the most successful publishers in the Chinese media industry."
Kummerfeld noted that China's publishing industry is still in its infancy, but Taiwan's is more mature and can share business know-how with Chinese companies.
According to Kummerfeld, the market for quality magazines in China today is less than US$100 million, but as personal incomes rise over the next decade, that figure could increase to US$500 million or more.
Chien said Taiwan media operators still have some hurdles to overcome. "First, we need a media conglomerate to compete with other media giants from Western countries," Chien said.
He said only big players can obtain economies of scale and lower costs. "That's why recently Hong Kong-based Tom.com merged several Chinese print media together and put them under one big umbrella," Chien added.
Tom.com bought Taiwan's Business Weekly Publishing last December following its acquisition of PC Home Publication Group, Cite Publishing and Sharp Point Publishing last May.
The other hurdle is improving management skills. "Currently, most of Taiwan's print media are managed by senior `editorial' personnel, not experienced management professionals, thus resulting in inefficient operations," Chien said.
RSS