Taiwanese companies are changing to become creators rather than just producers, an international judge said yesterday at a ceremony to honor the nation's most innovative products.
"The products will soon turn from `Made in Taiwan' to `Creative in Taiwan,'" said Luigi Ferraram, from George Brown College in Canada, who served as head of a panel of international judges for this year's National Awards of
Excellence.
Eight companies were awarded the top prize by President Chen Shui-bian (
Another judge, Matthew Asinari, chief executive officer of the New York-based Shine Brand Consultants, gave a thumbs-up to the diversification and stronger own-brand R&D capabilities demonstrated in competition.
The eight gold medalists hail from different industries.
According to the organizer, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (
Gold medalists are rewarded with international ads and promotions, while first-time winners also receive NT$2 million.
The gold medal winners included Apacer Technology Inc's (
Giant Manufacturing Co's (
BenQ's P30 smartphone caught the eyes of the judges for its unique style and compactness.
"It's better than a PDA -- there's no need to carry around several bulky devices anymore," said judge Henning Horn, director of the Stuttgart Design Center.
Judges said the award-winning products had improved across all the judging categories -- innovation, design, quality, market position and brand awareness.
"In previous years, you would see some companies strong in one area and relatively weak in another," Asinari said. "But this year we are seeing consistency across the board from the gold winners as they dedicate resources to R&D, design and marketing."
Tsai Meng-ta (
"We'll stake up investments on R&D, up from NT$200 million spent last year," he said.
The spokesman for another gold medalist, Hiwin Mikrosystem, was overwhelmed at receiving the award.
"As Taiwan's sole manufacturer of linear motors, we're really happy to be recognized," vice president Szu Kou-I (
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six