Palm Searching for Taiwanese Manufacturers

Posted By: Ed Monday, February 12, 2001 9:24:25 AM

Palm Inc. has recently sent specialists to inspect some Taiwanese factories in China looking for places to manufacture the next generation of Palm handhelds. They have sent representatives to factories run by Inventec, Acer, First International, and Mitac International according to Palm's executive for North Asian operation, R. F. Jiao. Analysts are predicting that Palm will place initial orders with one or more of these companies for at least 1 million units in 2001. Palm will also work with Taiwanese manufacturers to produce Palm-branded SD peripherals.

Palm has struggled for almost a year now to make enough units to meet demand. This has mostly been caused by component shortages, especially flash memory and LCD screens, but this crisis is slowly abating.

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That makes me sad!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/12/2001 10:43:16 AM #

That's the worst news I'm going to hear all week - I can tell already even though it's only Monday! Does that mean they haven't started making the new Palms yet? They're supposed to be releasing in two months! If they're just starting to look for manufacturers for the next generation of units, how long is it going to take them to get up to speed?

RE: That makes me sad!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/12/2001 11:33:22 AM #

If that's the worst news you're going to hear all week, I want YOUR life!

You're forgetting that Palm already has manufacturing capacity that can be used to make new models. I suspect the reason they're scouting new production facilities is that they're either looking for a better deal, or they want to increase production above what they are able to do with their current facilities and outsourcing contracts.

This is not bad news. I'm not sure it's even news. Get a life.

Cheaper hand-held computer?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/13/2001 8:53:56 AM #

Does that mean wu can have much cheaper hand-held computers is the future? (ex:less than 250 $)

BOOOOOO!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/13/2001 11:59:27 AM #

That's all we need - more cheap, poor labor. Electronics made in China suck. 14 year olds
can't solder well I guess!

RE: BOOOOOO!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/13/2001 7:37:22 PM #

All competitive firms seek to make a profit. In order to keep up with the competition (by keeping up with increased demand and at the same time keep costs down to a minimum), Palm's move is only logical.

Semiconductor firms based in Taiwan have been moving their factories out to Mainland China for the same reason--lower labor costs.

As for quality, would Palm really just blindly commit its resources without first evaluating the factories' capabilities? I think not.

RE: BOOOOOO!

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/1/2001 9:56:49 PM #

I think that you are mistaken in your assessment of Chinese production capabilities. After visiting many factories in China ( no, I don't work for Palm ), I am impressed with the standards & quality that is often achieved.

There is considerable investment in China from Taiwanese companies, in addition to finance, they bring the skills & quality controls that have made Taiwan the worlds largest source of notebook computers.

I live in Asia but am not Asian, I'm kinda tired of people outside of the region knocking the capabilities & standards here.

Your comment re 14 y/o's soldering capabilities demonstrates your lack of understanding of the region.

Taiwan Not China!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/13/2001 7:30:58 PM #

Those "Taiwanese" factories are not in "China", they are in "Taiwan".

RE: Taiwan Not China!

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/13/2001 7:49:09 PM #

I'm not entirely sure which particular manufacturers have moved their factories out to Mainland China, but this has been a trend for the last couple of years due to the increased costs of labor on Taiwan.