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| [Computex Taipei '98] Computex '98 Showcases Industry Trends for 18th Year
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June 4, 1998 (TAIPEI) -- The Computex Taipei '98, which opened on
June 2 for its 18th year, is showcasing computer and electronics
industry trends.
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This annual trade show has 92 exhibitors from 15 countries
occupying 35,000 square meters of floor space in two adjacent
buildings in the Taipei World Trade Center.
Even before the show officially opened, the fanfare started. On
June 1, senior level executives attended a conference entitled
"Hi-Tech Strategic Marketing: Inside the Tornado," based on the
two books, "Inside the Tornado" and "Crossing the Chasm," by
Geoffrey Moore. They could learn how to fine-tune marketing
strategy and practices for products to become a market leader
quickly in this battlefield, which is teeming with short-lived
products and fierce competition.
While other leading world computer shows may stress concepts and
prototypes, Computex Taipei '98 highlights items ready for
consumption. For example, Texas Instruments Inc. showcased
modems, many 56kbps speed, from several vendors that utilize TI's
digital signal processing technology.
In the adjacent room, more than 30 software vendors clustered to
demonstrate programs running on Intel Pentium II processor for
business, education, entertainment and Web-enabled applications.
Product highlights at the show reflect several IT industry
trends:
(1) Slot vs. Socket: In the sub-US$1,000 PC market, Intel's low-
cost Celeron version of the Pentium II processor (Slot 1) is
competing directly with low-cost processors from rivals such as
AMD Inc. and Cyrix Corp. (Socket 7).
(2) High-end PCs: dozens of manufacturers are showing
motherboards with Pentium IIs and the new 440BX chip sets for
desktops and notebooks for the high-end market.
(3) Barebones becomes popular: motherboard makers nowadays ship
in barebones form as a result of global logistics operation and
the emergence of a highly diversified market environment.
(4) Portable computing: new palm-sized organizers based on the
Windows CE platform and sub-notebooks that will break the
US$1,000 barrier are debuting at the show.
(5) LCDs: many local CRT makers are increasingly devoting
resources to 15-in. flat panel displays, a move that will help to
cut costs, lower prices and expand markets at the same time.
(6) V.90 standard: with the finalization of the V.90 standard by
the International Telecommunication Union last February, V.90-
compliant 56kbps modems are quickly becoming the mainstream.
(7) Opto-electronic products: numerous Taiwan makers are
releasing scanners, DVDs, printers and digital cameras to
facilitate multimedia applications.
"This is where you get a feeling of what people will be using six
months from now," said Helen Chiu of the marketing division of
Hsinchu-based Accton Technology Corp., which specializes in LAN
systems.
In 1997, more than 15,000 overseas guests visited the show.
Although the attendance has been growing by double-digit
percentages in the past few years, no one knows how much the
Asian economic crises will affect the turnout at this show.
Interestingly, there seem to be fewer Asian buyers this year.
Perhaps because this is only the first day, "last year I ran into
more than 100 fellow countrymen within two hours, but today I
have seen only seven in the past four hours," commented Ninoy Kim
of Great Innovation Systems Co. based in Seoul, Korea. Kim's
company specializes in factory automation software and
microprocessor applications. He came to the show looking for I/O
cards for analog data acquisition and Chinese/English language
industrial automation software packages to compare with the ones
his company developed.
Besides tangible products on display, dozens of seminars are
being held concurrently on technical and business issues. In
addition, several high-profile presentations are being offered by
top brass managers from National Semiconductor Corp., Cyrix,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Acer Inc. On June 3,
there will be a CEO round table meeting among leaders from 10
Taiwan companies, including United Microelectronics Corp., Acer
and Winbond Electronics Corp.
Related story: Computex Show Focuses on Pentium II Xeon
Motherboards it
Related story: Computex to Attract 892 Companies from 15
Nation
(Charlene Huang, Asia BizTech Correspondent)
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