Other Japanese firms are looking to work under the same model as Toshiba, making their own notebooks in China rather than ordering on an OEM basis from expensive Taiwan.
As Shih pointed out, Taiwan should move forward into areas such as design, marketing and services, as "it has no future in low-end, labor-intensive manufacturing, and authorities should do nothing to deter companies from making such investments in China."
In the place of granting legal authorization for notebook industry players to move across the Strait, the government prefers silence and sneaking. Business people in Taiwan, however, take the view that following government policies places themselves in greater jeopardy than by going ahead with investment plans.
Perhaps no one has voiced this concern in a more stark manner than Morris Chang (
Quanta followed the law and it could have cost the firm dearly. When the government first discussed allowing notebook manufacturers the freedom to move to China, Quanta officials balked. They had no plants in China -- as a result of following investment laws -- while the rest of Taiwan's notebook makers already had computer monitor facilities, motherboard lines and other related factories in full production.
Quanta has since built "bare bones" notebook making plants in Shanghai, ready for any liberalizing moves on the part of the government. If the company had missed the boat, competitors would have enjoyed a six month lead over Quanta, offering at least 5 percent discounts and undercutting Quanta's lowest possible price, according to analysts.
A period of six months means life and death in this industry. Multinational firms go for low prices and high quality and could have deserted Quanta for another notebook maker.
Hence the lesson for semiconductor makers such as TSMC's Chang: It's safer to skirt the law rather than follow it to your own demise.
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