Computer industry is one of the most dynamic and competitive industry. Within this industry, Taiwanese companies are considered as one of the most successful in the world. Prior to 1970, Taiwan’s economy was mostly agrarian and since 1970s, the island’s economy started to focus on the development of a high technology sector. Thus, a question arises, what driving forces supported the development that focused particularly on the computer industry? The main purpose of this thesis is, to identify the driving forces that supported Taiwan’s economy transformation to a high-tech focused economy. The thesis furthermore aims to deepen the understanding of todays’ Taiwan’s development till today.
The study revealed, that the most important impact was made by the Taiwanese government, which used various incentives to kick-start different projects and encouraged high technology development. Science park Hsinchu, based on an American Silicon Valley model, was one of those projects. Research furthermore showed that Taiwanese companies already had the knowledge of assembling electronic components and were able to quickly transform this knowledge to the production and innovation of the computer components as well. Since they were innovative and able to quickly acquire the knowledge required, the foreign companies trusted them with the design and not only production. Consequently, some of the Taiwanese companies developed their own brand, which today competes with the best computer brands in the world. In summary, the identified driving forces that supported the development of the tech industry are government incentives, presence and support of foreign companies, as well as the local knowledge, experiences, ability to quickly learn and transform the knowledge of computer assembly into computer design and innovation.
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