Selected articles on industrial development in emerging economies

Vietnam: Electronic sector grows since joining WTO playground

The Vietnamese electronic sector has posted an average annual growth rate of 20-30 percent. In the first 11 months of 2008, exports surpassed 2.5 billion USD. For the whole year, the figure is expected to be 2.75 billion USD, or a rise of 28 percent over 2007. Since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), electronic equipment and components are exported to more than 50 countries and territories throughout the world.

VietNamNet Bridge

China: One-stop PCBA centers expand PCB sourcing options

Suppliers in China, in particular, are moving ahead with efforts to add one-stop PCB assembly (PCBA) services to cater to a market with evolving sourcing preferences. This migration to becoming a one-stop sourcing option is expected to strengthen the region’s PCB industry and reduce the 8.5 to 10 percent increase in manufacturing costs. One-stop PCBA has become preferable as this permits PCB manufacturing and assembly to be conducted in a single place, allowing all stakeholders to match technology and quantity requirements at the shortest possible time. Unlike conventional PCB manufacturing, one-stop PCBA services let both sides respond quickly to industry changes.

Global Sources

Greater China’s power transformer industry is in flux

Power transformer suppliers in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are compelled to rethink their market positioning to streamline production. Even as Greater China retains its lead as the world’s second largest producer of power transformers, trailing only Japan, suppliers are freezing their capacities as supply currently exceeds global demand. Compounding the situation are rising wages, surging yuan and tightening labor supply, which are thrusting production costs to their highest in recent years.

Global Sources

India: Poor fab output stifles electronics components industry

The electronics components production has almost come to a standstill. From 2004 to 2007, the total production value of components has been static at Rs 8,800 crore as semiconductor manufacturing, which is at the heart of electronics components industry, is yet to kick off. Despite policy announcements by several global majors of setting up production units in India, the semiconductor manufacturing remains abysmally low.

The Economic Times

Turkey: Electronics exports down, imports jump

According to the Turkish Electronics and Information Industries Association, imports increased by 5.4 percent to USD 11.6 bn in 2007 over 2006, while exports amounted to USD 5.2 bn, down from USD 5.6 bn the year before. The Turkish electronics industry occupied a key position in the country’s economy in 2007, with 45,000 employees.

Today's Zaman

Vietnam: Local electronics firms urged to 'rewire'

The right direction for Vietnam's electronics industry to survive in the regional and global electronics market is specialisation and integration, according to the Viet Nam Electronics Industries Association (VEIA).

VietNamNet

India: Global electronics companies planning to set up shop in India

A rapidly growing consumer electronics market in India has prompted many leading manufacturers of the world to seek local partners to set shops in the subcontinent. Those eying to enter the Indian market in a big way include Japanese testing firm Saki, Hong Kong’s surface mount technology (SMT) company WKK, Singapore’s Mydata (SMT) and USA’s Indium (solder paste).

Business Standard

India needs to start manufacturing electronic components

With virtually no domestic production of electronic components, manufacturers like Nokia, Elcoteq, Jabil, Dell and others have to import almost all components and this becomes a major cost factor. Thus, the advantage of low labour costs gets nullified by the air freight charges these manufacturers pay for importing components.

EFYtimes.com

Taiwan's passive component suppliers enjoy sales turnaround

After experiencing sales recession in the second quarter of this year, Taiwan's suppliers of passive components have seen a significant turnaround in sales performance in July, optimistically expecting a sales boom to hit the sector in the second half of the year despite intensifying concerns about the world economic depression and inflation.

CENS.com

Vietnam: Electronic goods exports reach USD 1.44 billion

According to a General Statistics Office report, electronic and computer-component exports reached USD 1.44 billion in the first seven months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 29 per cent. Electronics exports have increased sharply in recent years, from USD 166 million in 2002 to USD 2.15 billion in 2007, and are estimated to reach USD 3 billion by the end of this year.

Viet Nam News

Thailand: Delta investing USD 50m in Indian plant to supply Slovakia unit

Driven by strong demand for electronic products in India, Delta Electronics (Thailand) Plc, the country's biggest listed electronics business, is poised to beef up its expansion in India, planing to invest about USD 50 million next year.

bangkokpost.com

South Korea: Distributors supply solutions, not just parts

Korea’s semiconductor and parts distribution industry has grown and evolved immensely for the last 40 years along with the local electronics industry. The trend of companies relying on doing business Online has greatly affected the distribution industry in a positive way.

ECNASIAmag.com

China's business model innovators

The impression of China is of thousands of super-efficient electronics companies cranking out components and products with cheap labor. But there’s some really interesting business model innovation going on within the Chinese supply chain mega-machine. One such innovator is a company out of Shenzhen called Cogo Group.

BusinessWeek

Vietnam: Electronics industry hopes to earn USD 6 billion by 2010

The goverment has endorsed the master plan for the development of the electronics industry, targeting revenues of USD 4-6 billion by 2010, with USD 3-5 billion of that from exports. To reach these targets, Vietnam will turn out more lucrative electronic items, including both finished products and components and spare parts used in informatics, telecommunications, and medical and industrial equipment.

Viet Nam News

China claims sweet spot in tech food chain

China's crucial role in the global technology supply chain, with its numbers of suppliers churning out parts for computers and TVs and, increasingly, software, will expand as world economic growth slows and multinationals eye outsourcing to preserve shrinking margins. "There's going to be an increase in China outsourcing," according to a senior executive of Fujitsu Ltd..

CHINA DAILY

Rising costs hit laptop makers

Retail prices for laptop computers are set to rise as contract manufacturers move to raise prices for the first time in the face of soaring raw material and assembly costs.

FT.com

Taiwan sees chip mergers ahead

Sluggish times in the global semiconductor industry are likely to last for the next six to 12 months until consolidation eases an industry glut.

Forbes.com

Global semiconductor industry: India taking the lead

Drop in US consumer spending and the impending market crisis has started hitting the global semiconductor industry But the Indian semiconductor industry is taking a different path altogether.

ITVoir.com

Vietnam may become the next hot spot for electronics sourcing

Vietnam is increasingly being talked about as having the potential to become the next low-cost location for electronics manufacturing and sourcing.

Purchasing.com

India: Nokia questions manufacturing sustainability

Reacting to a speech by the minister for communications and information technology, Nokia India has blasted the government for not complying with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it has signed with the company.

EFYtimes.com

Taiwanese PC makers thrive with own brands

As profit margins for contract manufacturing have shrunk, Taiwanese companies have leveraged their manufacturing strengths to market their own brands ― a trend that has ramped up competition.

ajc.com

China's changing tech manufacturing landscape

Rising costs in China and international competition are starting to force Chinese companies to seek global partners, diversify their business and build better products. Two prime examples of this trend are Amoi and Malata, the leading electronics manufacturers in Xia'men, a city in Fujian province that has become a high-tech hub.

Forbes.com

Sri Lanka: High tech reaches zenith

Sri Lanka’s high tech electronics industry has entered a new era with 30 per cent growth. This will create ample opportunities of having linkages with the growing Indian electronics sector.

Daily News

India needs 3-4 fabs to face global competition

India should plan to have 3-4 semiconductor fabrication facilities, which should suffice to face global competition. There is need for India to emerge as a producer of all kinds of chips (integrated circuits).

Sify

China: Investment growth in China’s electronics and IT industry rebounds

The growth of fixed assets investment in China’s electronics and IT industry rebounded in the first 11 months of 2007 but still lower than the average of manufacturing industries in the country.

Manufacturing Business Technology

Vietnam: Domestic electronics rake in export profits

The electronic products and computer components industry plans to earn US$3.5 billion from export turnover this year. This is due to increasing demand for electronic products. Furthermore, Viet Nam has lured many large-scale projects in this field since becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation.

Viet Nam News