December 25, 2004
Taiwan NEC hopes to find a systems integration company in Taiwan with which to initiate a business merger. Noting that NEC Corporation in Japan recently completed a successful merger with a major consultancy firm, Taiwan NEC said in mid-December that it is seeking to pair up with a Taiwanese enterprise that will complement its operations here. It stated that the most important factor in selecting a merger partner would be how well the operations of the two sides are able to be coordinated.
NEC Corporation president Akinobu Kanasugi reported while on a visit to Taiwan in October that NEC's procurements in Taiwan will total nearly
USD 3 billion this year and should reach
NTD 120 billion in 2005. This volume of business places the Japanese computer giant among those foreign
IT companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, Apple and IBM, responsible for the highest procurement figures in Taiwan.
However, NEC has established independent companies for such divisions as its personal computer and projector divisions. This means that these new companies will be placing their own procurement orders in Taiwan in the future, leaving Taiwan NEC in control of 40% of its original procurement value. Despite this new organizational system, NEC's combined procurements will continue to grow.
Analysts posit that NEC Corporation plans to implement a strategy similar to that of IBM which has chosen to sell off its personal computer division in order to focus on its service operations. At present, virtually all of NEC's notebook computers are manufactured by the two Taiwanese companies Quanta Computer and First International Computer.
NEC is also aggressively developing its UNIVERGE concept which aims to provide multimedia integration solutions by combining computers and wireless telecom.
Reflecting NEC's goal of focusing its operations primarily on becoming a solution provider, Taiwan NEC has already received numerous systems integration orders, including those for the development of a point-of-sale system for President Chain Store Corp. (7-Eleven) and the complete upgrading of the Criminal Investigation Bureau's fingerprinting system.
In other Taiwan NEC news, the
R&D center it established in Taiwan this year is nearing completion of projects focused on the development of personal computer security chips and high-density motherboards. The center says that this research will create new business opportunities. It also hopes to further coordinate its research efforts with those of the research center at NEC headquarters in Japan.
(United Daily News)
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