Taiwanese handset makers should see their global market share soar in the coming years as international brand-name mobile-phone makers increasingly outsource production to cut costs, a Motorola Inc official said yesterday.
"Taiwan's complete supply chain in the communication industry has given the nation a leading position" in the sector, Motorola Electronics Taiwan chairman Tom Sun (
"It's easy to find at least three suppliers in each sector, from IC design, semiconductors, to motherboard makers," he said.
Local original equipment manufacture and original design manufacture phone makers are expected to grow more than nine-fold between 2001 and this year, which will help boost local handset makers' global market share to about 20 percent, Sun said.
International handset makers are expected to outsource around 40 percent of their total shipments, or around 160 million units, by 2006, he said.
He further forecast that Taiwan has a big opportunity to become the world's No.1 mobile phone manufacturing center, with local manufacturers' shipments likely increasing 40 percent by 2006.
Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker after Nokia Oyj, bought about US$578 million worth of mobile phones from local manufacturers last year, up from US$381 million in 2001.
The US company's handset procurement is expected to jump after it signed a long-term manufacturing agreement with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) last week.
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