Taiwan manufacturers of video game consoles should seize the current opportunity as both Microsoft and Sony are planning to entrust OEM (other equipment manufacturing) makers with mass production of their new generation video game systems, an analyst from the Institute for Information Industry (III, 資策會) said yesterday.
Wang Sheng-hung (王勝宏) of the III's Market Information Center (MIC, 市場情報中心) said that Microsoft has decided to introduce its Xbox consoles to the market in mid-November at a cut-throat price of below US$300 per unit.
In the meantime, Sony has been forced to lower the price of its most popular console -- PlayStation II (PS2) to counter the competition.
Wang said that the efforts of local OEM makers to win Sony's orders for PS2 consoles have finally borne fruit as the Japanese video game champ is seeking qualified hardware manufacturers in Taiwan to do the assembling.
The global sales volume of the PS2 is estimated at 20 million units annually. If local manufacturers can win half of the OEM orders, they will gross an estimated NT$70 billion a year alone from console assembling, according to Wang.
The market expert said, however, Sony usually only entrusts the assembling work to OEMs with large investments and sound financial status. Both Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) are deemed hopefuls to win orders.
As for the Xbox consoles, Microsoft has given some of the orders to small-and medium-sized manufacturers of cases and connectors, instead of the computer giant Acer Inc (
Taiwan's hardware sector has tried to secure OEM orders from the booming video game system branch.
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