The Republic of Computers: From Scoundrels to Asian Heroes
The MIT Press eBooks · 2025
Thanks in no small part to Shih's pioneering example, the integrated-supply-chain model is now the hallmark of PC contract manufacturing worldwide.In other words, he's a big reason why your PC costs $1,000, not $10,000. . . .Instead of merely manufacturing cheap capacitors, radios and the like, Taiwan's PC industry grew far more ambitious under Shih's mentorship.-Paul S. Otellini (then CEO of Intel), November 13, 2006, Time In 1983 and 1984, Stan Shih's com pany, Multitech, stumbled twice as US Customs detained its computers from entering the US market.The first occurrence was in early 1983, and the computers were Apple II compatibles.The second was in early 1984, and the computers were IBM PC/XT compatibles.While chapter 8 discusses the disputes over Taiwan-produced Apple II compatibles, this chapter focuses on Shih and his fellow Taiwanese computer makers, such as MiTAC, who began to manufacture IBM PC clones, and eventually became indispensable subcontractors for US computer makers.Acer, Multitech's new name after 1986, became one of the world's top ten computer makers in the mid-1990s.Shih's success can be attributed to several achievements he and his com pany attained in the 1980s.Similar to other fast-growing US PC clone makers, Shih increased his employment of R&D engineers over time to develop computers with stronger technical performance.Benefiting from the infrastructure of Taiwan's existing electronics industry, Shih's engineers, factory workers, and suppliers readily supported his plan for mass-manufacturing computers in Taiwan.Shih strove to sell computers from the island to around the world and, with his fellow Taiwanese competitors, eventually set up factories in overseas locations to ensure their products' low cost and swift delivery.