Taiwan’s corporate landscape has changed significantly over the past 20 years, with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) replacing Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) as the revenue leader, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) has emerged as the most profitable firm, a survey of Taiwan’s 50 largest companies published on Tuesday last week showed.
The Chinese-language CommonWealth Magazine survey ranked Taiwan’s 50 largest companies based on their revenue last year, and compared them with the results of a similar survey it conducted in 2000.
Only 33 companies on the original list remained in this year’s rankings, the survey found, following two volatile decades in Taiwan punctuated by the 2000 dotcom bubble, the 2003 SARS outbreak and the 2008 global financial crisis.
Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, topped this year’s list with revenue of more than NT$6 trillion (US$199.94 billion) last year, replacing the leader in 2000, Formosa Plastics, which fell to No. 2.
Rounding out the survey’s top five companies by revenue were the electronics manufacturers Pegatron Corp (和碩) and New Kinpo Group (新金寶集團), followed by TSMC at No. 5.
TSMC replaced 2000 leader United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) as Taiwan’s most profitable company, with net profit of NT$351.94 billion for last year, the results showed.
Overall, the survey was dominated by companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, which accounted for 24 of the top 50 spots, up from 14 in the 2000 survey.
Other industries, such as automotives, textiles and household electronics, showed marked declines in this year’s rankings.
Only two of the four automotive companies featured in the 2000 survey made this year’s list, with Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) dropping from No. 5 to No. 37 and Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) falling from No. 12 to No. 34.
In the textile industry, defunct companies Hualon Corp (華隆) and Tuntex Group (東帝士集團) were removed from the list, while Ruentex Group (潤泰集團) and Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) each retained their spots by diversifying their operations significantly.
Meanwhile, household electronics manufacturers Tatung Co (大同), Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機) and Sampo Corp (聲寶) all dropped out of the top 50, the results showed.
In a review of the results, the survey’s organizers highlighted three areas of concern for the companies on the list: potentially declining profits in the ICT industry, succession plans and insufficient reinvestment.
The editors said that 21 of the 50 companies on the list are still run by their founders, 15 of whom are over the age of 70.
Without adequate planning, succession issues in family-run corporations could pose considerable organizational risks, the editors wrote.
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