Project Proposed to Redirect Taiwan's ICT Industry

The Taiwan Cabinet recently announced inaugurating the project “Little Apple Orchard” to divert the island's information-communications technology (ICT) industry away from its predicament by identifying new niche products.

The Cabinet-level National Science Council (NSC) will provide partial funding and invite Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), MediaTek Inc., and the Ruentex Group to co-found a company named “Little Apple Orchard” by mid-2014.

The planned venture will plow NT$1 billion (US$33.3 million) in two to three years into helping niche-application manufacturers develop various information-communications modules and interface combinations, providing them system-integration platforms and test fields, assisting them develop product prototypes, and introducing international contract buyers.

J.M. Shyu, president of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the joint venture in the start-up stage, during which the venture will be developed by ITRI and capitalized at NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) or so. NSC will supply one third of the founding capital, with the remainder supplied by the four founding companies.

Shyu defines the venture as a provider of system-integration design service for niche-application planners and is upbeat about applications for wearable devices in medication, healthcare, smart car, and smart home. For instance, when family physicians of a hospital want a medical examination instrument, the hospital can contract the joint venture to design and integrate the system according to the procedure.

NSC Minister Cyrus Chu points out that Taiwan's tech industry has become an integral part of the global supply chain of personal computer industry since PC was debuted in the 1980s with its advantage in contract manufacturing service. But now, China and even Vietnam are slowly replacing Taiwan in contract manufacturing. The island can not even compete with South Korea in many tech fields, prompting the birth of the “Little Apple Orchard” project.

Chu calls most of the existing mobile computing devices as iPhone, iPad, and Google Glass “Big Apples”, which he says provide many apps that may not meet consumer need. So, Taiwan, he suggests, must take advantage of its nimbleness to develop niche mobile devices and apps to sidestep head-on competition with international big players.

The minister notes that the project aims to provide the island's ICT industry a new direction to roll out thousands of niche mobile devices at a time when the global tech industry faces a “paradigm shift”.

NSC officials point out that all participants of the venture will develop mobile devices based on specific purposes and functionalities required by healthcare, logistics management, and smart-car sectors. (KL)