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Taiwan's original design manufacturers face intensifying competition in their high-growth market.
In the beginning, electronics companies made the products they sold. After some time, companies with famous brand names found it more efficient to concentrate on design and marketing, so they turned manufacturing over to specialists known as electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies.
Now the electronics business model of the moment is to entrust not just the manufacturing but the design as well to original design manufacturers (ODMs). With the number of product lines growing and the life cycle of any given model shortening, OEMs have to either bulk up on design capabilities or get outside help. That's where ODMs come in. "OEM companies face a shortage of engineering resources, find it tough to keep up with market demand for new product models and so are turning to Taiwan's ODMs," says Sheaffer Lee, president and chief operating officer of BenQ, an ODM that specializes in consumer electronics and mobile phones.
The ODM business model falls along a continuum between two different approaches. Under what's called the off-the-shelf approach, an ODM designs a product and offers it to brand-name vendors. Under the other, the OEM takes specifications and design requirements to several ODMs and negotiates a deal.
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Ericsson have halted their Bluetooth design and manufacturing work. Some are heralding this as the end of the short-range communications standard, but it is simply an indicator that the standard has matured – the standard does not require more development work and the chipsets are commodity items. Ericsson, the inventor of standard, will continue to offer Bluetooth features in their new phones, but will leave the manufacturing of the chipsets to high-volume chip manufacturers – and there are are already many making the sets.
Ericsson, with transfer the 125 staff working on Bluetooth to other divisions of the company, though will remain a member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.
Bluetooth has always been more popular in Europe than in America – only 10% of Bluetooth shipments are in the US, opposed to 65% in Europe (source: Wireless Watch).
Bluetooth is now so widely adopted that it can be left in the hands of other companies to thrive, but it is clear that Ericsson do not believe there will be a next iteration of the technology. There are new technologies on the way – particularly ZigBee, a low-power, low-data rate radio frequency communications standard, designed with a much wider remit than Bluetooth in mind. ZigBee is intended to operate in consumer electronics, PC peripherals, home automation and industrial
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Some 70,000 Mac fans gathered at Apple Expo 2004 in Paris earlier this week for the largest exhibition of its kind in Europe.
The event provided a showcase for just what kind of stylish technology we should expect from Apple in the coming months.
Paris is a byword for chic, and as such, it is an appropriate setting for the company which places such a high premium on the elegance of its products.
But Apple actually sees itself as promoting far more than just its products. Instead, it is selling an entire way of life.
Many of the people attending the Paris Expo, the largest gathering outside the US, clearly buy into this idea, as Apple inspires an almost religious devotion amongst its users.
The company's fortunes may have been rocky over the years, but everyone seems to agree that at the moment it is riding high.
Paul Newman, editor of iCreate magazine, says: "I think it's a fantastic time for Apple - things have never been better for them.
"The share price has been rising, the corporate side is doing really well, its products are completely revitalised and it's innovating."
In the run-up to the Paris Expo, one persistent piece of speculation on the Mac rumour-mill was that Apple would use the event to launch an entirely new iMac.
The rumours turned out to be correct, with the unveiling of the i
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An electrical engineering student has been causing a stir at the University of KwaZulu-Natal with his development of a computer system capable of controlling an electric motor car.
Like many electric motor vehicles, the vehicle designed and built by James Ireland, does not generate emissions, conserves energy and reduces noise pollution.
Ireland is in the process of completing the car for his master's degree in electrical engineering and believes "the technology could be the solution to the world's pollution dilemma".
Ireland, who has been fascinated with inventions all his life, made his first electric motor when he was in Grade 2.
Ireland said electric cars have existed since the early 1900s, but he has developed a real-time computer, which was not commercially available.
The high-speed custom computer controller took Ireland about 18 months to develop and less than two months to build into a go-cart.
"This type of computer control system has enabled us to use cheap industrial motors that are relatively difficult to control in this type of application," said Ireland.
The computer system is not only dedicated to the electric vehicle application, but is also applicable to diverse academic and industrial projects, from specialised motor control to rural electrification.
But in developing his design Irela
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Instrument Business Outlook (IBO), the leading analytical instrument newsletter, has announced the winners of the 11th annual IBO Industrial Design Awards for excellence in analytical and life science instrument design. IBO presents the awards to recognize the commitment of instrument companies to making products whose visual appeal enhances their use. This year’s recipients, unveiled in the August 15 issue, define good instrument design with their use of innovative forms and functional aesthetics. Each winning instrument both meets end-users’ demands and facilitates manufacturing and marketing.
To be eligible for a 2004 design award, a product must be an analytical or life science instrument that began shipping between August 2003 and July 2004. Nominees are chosen from the variety of new analytical and life science instruments that IBO monitors through trade shows, trade publications and press releases. The awards are based on an instrument’s industrial design and not its performance. Criteria include innovation, functionality, style, ergonomics and user friendliness.
IBO, a subscription-based newsletter, is published twice monthly by Strategic Directions International, Inc. (SDi), a management and marketing research firm dedicated to the analytical and life science instrument industry. SDi is the world’s leading sourc
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