Taiwan

Taiwan’s industrial PC (IPC) market underwent a transformation last year. Instead of sticking to PCbased applications, many key makers are now repositioning themselves and aggressively allocating resources to take advantage of emerging interface standards like 3G communications and telematics in automobiles.



Traditional automation systems and manufacturing are becoming a part of IPC. Vendors in this sector are increasingly moving into computer design, telecom and networking to take advantage of the growing market potential.



Alliances in the IPC market segment are growing thick and fast. For instance, AsusTek Computer Inc. and Advantech have set up a joint venture (tentatively named AdvanSus) to provide industrial computing for design and manufacturing service (D&MS), industrial mobile, industrial motherboard and industrial server segments. Also, Adlink and Kontron have teamed up to provide a new microETXexpress form factor to build a PCI Express-based COM on the smallest possible form factor.



KC Liu, CEO of Advantech, believes that his company’s alliance with AsusTek will enhance their position in computing and industrial computing areas. “The alliance will lead us to the industrial computing’s D&MS, industrial mobile, industrial motherboard and industrial server segments,” he said.

Advantech currently has 25 percent share of the PC market worldwide. “The characteristics of IPC are highly diversified and come with a lot of advanced technologies. If a company is incapable of adequate production capacity and technology resources, there will be many missed opportunities to get more market share,” Liu said.



In line with IPC product trends, Liu said that DMS for IPC, portable IPC and industrial servers are some of the targeted areas which Advantech hopes to focus on in the next couple of years. On the other hand, Jim Liu, CEO of Adlink, thinks products for AdvancedTCA and computer on-modules will grow rapidly this year.



“The growth of IPTV and network security is stimulating the demand for AdvancedTCA, while the growth of computer-on-modules is due to the stable growth of medical electronics and traffic applications,” Adlink’s Liu said. To enhance its capability to capture those potential markets, Adlink is collaborating with Kontron to promote the microETXexpress structure.



Most IPC vendors are also active in telematics. With the launch of 3G service in Taiwan, the AdvancedTCA standard is drawing key IPC vendors like Adlink to provide related products. Advantech, in conjunction with Intel Corp. and Chunghwa Telecom, provides equipment that supports AdvancedTCA.