Taiwan’s tech industry, we can say, is all started from Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park ( Chinese: 新竹科學工業園區). In 1980, the government established an industrial park that straddles Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County, the Northwestern of the island of Taiwan.
Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park was founded by Kwoh-Ting Li, former Finance Minister of Republic of China (Taiwan). Inspired by Silicon Valley in the United States, Li consulted Frederick Terman, on how Taiwan could follow its example. From there, Li convinced talents who had gone abroad to build companies in this new Silicon Valley in Taiwan. Among those who returned is Morris Chang, who later leads the Industrial Technology Research Institute(ITRI). Li also introduced the concept of venture capital to the country in the effort to attract funds to finance the startups in the science part (Note: info from Wikipedia).
Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) is now one of the world's most significant areas for semiconductor manufacturing. More than 400 high-tech companies (see the list below), mainly involved in the semiconductor, computer, telecommunication, and optoelectronics industries, have been established in the park since the end of December 2003. Its 400 technology companies accounted for 10% of Taiwan GDP in 2007. It is home to the world's top two semiconductor foundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ( TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), both of which were established at the nearby Industrial Technology Research Institute. Taiwan is the only country that possesses a professional division-of-labor system in the semiconductor industry and also has the highest density of 12-inch wafer-producing fabs, most of which are based in the park.
Next door to the science park are two of Taiwan's science and engineering powerhouses, National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University. In this way, these companies can directly communicate with the students- the potential employees and the students have more channels to motivate themselves towards their profession. There is also a science-themed amusement park nearby. That is, the Park tries to connect people and technology together.
Major companies located in the park
- Acer Inc.
- Alpha Networks Inc.
- AU Optronics
- D-Link
- Chimei Innolux
- Elan Microelectronics Corporation
- Holtek
- Lite-On
- Logitech
- Macronix International (MXIC)
- MediaTek
- Microtek
- MiTAC
- MStar Semiconductor
- MA-tek Inc.
- Optodisc
- Philips
- Powerchip Semiconductor (PSC)
- ProMos Technologies
- Realtek
- Sunplus
- Silicon Integrated Systems
- Tecom - Tecom Co., Ltd
- TSMC - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.
- United Microelectronics Corporation
- Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation
- Winbond
- ZyXEL
Promisingly, the technology industry in Taiwan, thanks to Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park, gets to grow and expand. It sets a good example for our neighbors. On 19/5, 2012, the governor of Hunan Province came to visit and exchange some ideas. He said that Hsinchu Park and Optics Valley of China (the industrial park in the central of China- Wuhan) are the important high-tech industry bases in China and Taiwan;therefore, both sides should interact with each other more.
Moreover, the first Chinese company is coming to locate themselves in the Taichung Science and Industrial Park, which opens another new door for the cooperation between China and Taiwan.
Comments
Great posting. I learn lots of new things about Taiwanese technology companies.