After only two years in the market, the Pinzaan Co. has impressed consumers with its stunningly creative and eco-friendly paper furniture. The company was founded by Vito Lin, who graduated from the College of Design of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in 2004 and is anxious to market unique products developed by Taiwan's designers throughout the world. "Industrial design w...

Elected in December 2008 as the 13th chairman of the Taiwan Furniture Manufacturers' Association (TFMA), Ruca Chien is determined to help Taiwan's furniture manufacturers weather the current global recession and build the TFMA into one of the most dynamic and aggressive industrial associations in Taiwan. As a four-decade veteran of the furniture industry and founder of furniture-maker Ruca Cor...

Over the last two decades and as manufacturing costs escalated in Taiwan, many local furniture makers, especially those who saw the cheaper, land and labor overseas as decisive advantages, have moved offshore, hence hollowing out the core strength of the sector on the island, especially mass produced low-end items. Increasingly challenging rivalry from emerging nations has forced Taiwan-based mak...

Sofa chairs and couches have always been the main elements in living room sets, and this year sofa manufacturers in China are following the world's eco-friendly nature-loving trend by developing sofas that employ such natural textile materials as cotton, linen, and silk. These days, the design of a sofa is as important as its function. The designs of these Chinese sofas vary from elegance, si...

The global recession has sapped disposable incomes worldwide, some of which used to be spent on furniture. Such trend has been amplified for China-based furniture makers for they focused on exporting to the USA and Europe before the financial fallout. With declining orders from developed western nations, Chinese furniture makers are struggling to survive, while those who manage typically possess ...

The IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008, which ran Nov. 19-22 at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight), proved that, despite the global recession, the market for interior decor and lifestyle furnishings is lively as ever, also confirmed by regular cable TV airings of actual interior space retrofits and ingenious DIY furniture building in Japan. The two-in-one trade fair attr...

Founded in 1990, Como Furniture Enterprise has been turning out a range of furniture, including home furniture, children's furniture, PC desks and workstations. Mostly filling OEM and ODM orders placed by world-renowned brands, with major clients in the United States and Europe, the company also markets under its own Comta brand, products labeled with which are mainly sold in China. Captained...

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the former colony's semi-official trade promotion organization, opened its Taipei branch in the upmarket Xinyi district in early December 2008. The HKTDC, which was established in 1966 as Hong Kong's international marketing body, now has 40 offices around the world, 11 of them in China. The new Taipei office is seen as a significant step in the...

The 22nd China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) was held in the Pazhou Complex of the China Import and Export Fair on Sept. 8-11, 2008, alongside Homedecor & Housewares China and China (Guangzhou) International Trade Fair for Home Textile. The shows highlighted products designed to facilitate a high-class lifestyle. The furniture fair, the timing of which was moved up to September for ...

One rule of business never changes: the emerging economies will, when given the opportunity, gradually catch up and even exceed the existing dominant players. Such trend apparently has been impacting the furniture makers in Taiwan over the past two decades, with rivals in China and other Southeast Asian nations slowly but surely learning the tricks of the trade. Reports are that massive numbers o...