Despite the financial tsunami that has swept over enterprises in most sectors, the brand values of the top 20 Taiwanese companies with a global presence experienced relatively small declines this year, a survey showed yesterday.
The top 20 Taiwanese firms saw their total brand values decline 5.1 percent to US$8.67 billion this year from last year, showing these brands could withstand trying times and continue to conquer markets outside of Taiwan, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) chairman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛) said.
“This signifies that Taiwanese firms have strong competitiveness even amid the economic downturn,” Wang said at TAITRA’s Top 20 Taiwanese Global Brands Awards Ceremony yesterday.
Now in its seventh year, the survey was organized by TAITRA, sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and co-organized by the Chinese-language BusinessNext magazine and Interbrand Consulting.
The ranking uses the methodology employed by Interbrand, which also helps rank the annual 100 Best Global Brands for BusinessWeek.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said the government’s aim was to increase the brand values of Taiwan’s top 20 to US$10 billion in 2012, with at least five individual companies seeing brand values of US$1 billion each.
The list saw Acer Inc (宏碁) jump from No. 3 last year to the top spot this year. Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技), famous for its PC-cillin and antivirus solutions, and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) were each down one spot to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Fourth place went to HTC Corp (宏達電), which produces smartphones running on Microsoft Corp’s Windows Mobile and Google Inc’s Android platforms. Fifth was Tingyi Holding Corp (頂益控股), whose Master Kong-brand instant noodles have taken the China market by storm.
Two companies made it onto the Top 20 list for the first time this year: Want Want China Holdings Ltd (旺旺中國控股) and CyberLink Corp (訊連科技), which were ranked No. 6 and No. 17 respectively.
“We are honored to make the Top 20 list for the first time. It shows our products have gained awareness among global consumers,” said Manal Ma (馬慧嫻), CyberLink’s vice president of marketing and consumer service department.
The company’s investments this year in research and development, as well as manpower, are similar to last year’s budget, despite the financial crisis, she said.
Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械), which rose from No. 11 last year to No. 8 this year, also underscored the importance of investing in brand building.
“There’s no point in just trying to see how many bicycles we can sell. At the end of the day, what matters is striving for better brand recognition and raising our average selling prices,” Giant spokesman Jeffrey Sheu (許立忠) said.
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