HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone brand, took the top spot in the ranking of Taiwan’s top 20 global brands, with brand value nearly double that of second-place Acer (宏碁).
HTC’s brand value was US$3.61 billion, compared with Acer’s US$1.94 billion and No. 3 Asustek Computer’s (華碩) US$1.64 billion, according to the annual survey commissioned by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) and Chinese-language Business Next magazine, and conducted by brand consultancy firm Interbrand.
The brand value of the top three firms last year was: Acer, US$1.4 billion; HTC, US$1.37 billion; and Asustek, US$1.29 billion.
“I was surprised by our brand value [this year],” HTC chief executive Peter Chou (周永明) said in a speech after accepting the award. “Taiwanese companies should find their own values and should not believe that successful branding is impossible. The outcome could go beyond your expectations.”
HTC used to be a contract phone maker for companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell, but it entered the brand business five years ago and is now ranked No. 5, behind archrivals Apple, Samsung Electronics, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion.
Chou reportedly ditched HTC’s global launch in New York for its latest “Rhyme” smartphone on Tuesday to be present for yesterday’s award ceremony.
“Engagement in the brand business is a Herculean task, and it is time and money consuming … We aim to make HTC a global premium brand to compete with the best of the best in the industry,” he said.
This year was the first time in the awards’ nine-year history that catering and financial firms made it to the finalists’ list, TAITRA said.
The award adopted an identification standard created by Interbrand, which releases annual rankings for the world’s 100 best global brands, including Coca Cola Co, Microsoft Corp and Google.
New entrants to Taiwan’s top 20 list this year were Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), the operator of the popular 85°C (85度C) bakery and coffee chain, at No. 11; Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the world’s largest switching power supplier, at No. 17; and KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) at No. 20.
TAITRA said total brand value of the top 20 climbed 40 percent from last year to US$13.1 billion.
According to Stuart Green, chief Asia-Pacific executive of Interbrand, Taiwan stands a good chance of seeing its leading brand — HTC — make it onto the world’s 100 best global brands survey, which is due out on Oct. 4.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues