The importance of in - depth understanding of the notebook OEM relationship
In today's notebook industry, researching the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) relationships of notebooks is a crucial approach that enables us to thoroughly understand the relationships and background of the entire industry. For consumers, having a clear understanding of the relationships between branded notebook manufacturers and OEMs is of great help when purchasing notebooks.
From the OEM relationship, we can obtain important information from multiple aspects. The level of product quality is a key factor. The production process and quality control of the OEM factory directly affect the quality of laptops. Cost control ability can also be reflected in the OEM relationship. Some brands effectively reduce costs through reasonable OEM arrangements, thus gaining a price advantage in the market. R & D strength should not be ignored either. The cooperation model between the brand and the OEM factory in technological R & D can reflect its innovation ability. Mass - production scale is also an important consideration. Large - scale mass production often means cost reduction and stable market supply. Through a comprehensive analysis of this information, we can have a clear understanding of the comprehensive value of a laptop brand's products.
The definition of contract manufacturing and the differences between OEM and ODM
The definition of original equipment manufacturing (OEM)
Contract manufacturing, simply put, means to produce on behalf of others. In this model, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is responsible for manufacturing products, and then affixes the brand of the company that commissions the contract manufacturing, which is what we commonly refer to as production (transliterated as "affixing brand production" here as there's no exact English equivalent). This contract manufacturing model has many advantages. For example, resource allocation is very convenient. Contract manufacturers can reasonably arrange human, material, and financial resources according to the needs of different brands. The production model is mature. Through long - term development and practice, contract manufacturers have accumulated rich production experience, which can ensure the quality and stability of products. The mass - production efficiency is high. Professional production lines and processes enable products to be produced in large quantities quickly. Customized production is available. Brands can customize products according to their own market positioning and consumer needs. The design change is flexible, and the product design can be adjusted in a timely manner according to market changes.
Differences between OEM and ODM
Under the OEM model, Brand A of laptops will take its self-developed technologies in various aspects and design requirements and entrust a contract manufacturer to carry out production. After the products are manufactured, they will be labeled with Brand A. With the complete production line and advanced production technology of the contract manufacturer, Brand A only needs to invest very little energy and cost to obtain its own-brand products. In this process, the OEM contract manufacturer has a strict obligation of confidentiality. It cannot disclose any technologies and design schemes of Brand A, nor can it use this set of technologies to produce the same products for other manufacturers.
ODM is different. ODM manufacturers have their own R & D technologies and designs, and even have finished notebook products. If notebook brand B doesn't want to spend a huge amount of money on developing corresponding molds and related design technologies, it can seek support from ODM manufacturers. Brand B can select products that suit its positioning and requirements from the ODM manufacturer's products, or inform the ODM manufacturer of its product design and technical requirements. The ODM manufacturer will be responsible for the whole process of design and production, and finally label the products with brand B. Different from OEM, for the notebooks produced by ODM, the property rights in all aspects belong to the ODM factory. Brand B only gets the finished products, excluding the technologies and designs. This results in the situation that if another notebook brand C takes a fancy to the same mold product as brand B, the ODM manufacturer can still produce an identical product for brand C and label it with brand C. In the market, we often see that many products of different brands have basically the same appearance and mold design. This is the result of ODM production. For example, the three notebooks, Tsinghua Tongfang S20, Newblue S21 and Dell 1200, are almost identical because they all come from Compal's molds and are produced by Compal through ODM. Of course, if a notebook brand takes a fancy to a certain product mold of an ODM, it can also buy out all the technical design property rights of this mold at one time, so as to ensure that there won't be the same mold product of another brand in the market.
The Birth and Significance of Notebook OEM Manufacturing
A laptop is different from a desktop computer. Although it can be regarded as an integrated and compact all-in-one computer to a certain extent, its internal structure is extremely complex and involves many academic fields, such as process design, electronic science, materials science, energy chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, environmental protection, and even human anatomy. It is through the strict and organic combination of these various disciplines that the laptop as a whole is formed.
In terms of component composition, the various parts of a desktop computer or a DIY-compatible computer can be provided by different manufacturers, and users can choose and match them for assembly. However, current laptops cannot achieve this. Although laptop DIY has always been very popular, and Shenzhou (New Heaven) once strongly promoted DIY laptops, this kind of DIY is only based on the quasi-system and cannot achieve true DIY. Laptops lack established industry standards. Restricted by factors such as appearance and volume, it is impossible to formulate motherboard restriction specifications similar to ATX. Different motherboard shapes lead to different "chassis" molds, so they do not have the wide assembly capabilities like compatible computers. Moreover, the multi-disciplinary ultra-precision level of laptops is much higher than that of desktop PCs, and they cannot operate stably through simple assembly. These factors lay the prerequisite for the wide adoption of the OEM model.
The notebook field is not as easy to enter as the MP3 and mobile phone fields. Products like MP3 players and mobile phones have relatively low manufacturing costs, and some underground factories can also produce decent finished products. However, it's different for notebook computers. An advanced notebook production line requires an investment of at least hundreds of millions of yuan, and not all manufacturers have the strength to set up and operate such a line. Many manufacturers enter this market just to make profits, and finding a contract manufacturer is the quickest way. Apart from the investment in procurement funds and market promotion, the advantage of almost zero additional investment makes notebook manufacturers increasingly dependent on the contract manufacturing model. Nevertheless, there are also some powerful manufacturers, such as Fujitsu and Samsung, that always adhere to independent R & D and production, ensuring product quality through full - process production supervision and planning.
It should be noted that it cannot be assumed that the quality of notebook products produced through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) is inferior to that of self-produced ones. Manufacturers with OEM authorization all have very strict quality certification systems. Currently, more than 93% of notebook computers worldwide are produced by OEM factories in Taiwan, China. These OEM manufacturers have a large production scale and strong technological R & D capabilities, which are by no means inferior to those of some brands. Therefore, their product quality is trustworthy. Of course, there are gaps in technological strength and scale among different OEM factories, and the products they produce also vary in terms of cost and quality.
Current situation of the global notebook OEM market
Currently, the Taiwan region of China has become a major global outsourcing hub for laptop computers, almost monopolizing the entire laptop outsourcing industry. According to incomplete statistics, over 75% of laptops in the United States are outsourced to Taiwanese manufacturers, and more than 80% of laptops worldwide originate from Taiwan. Moreover, its brand coverage is quite extensive, encompassing almost all well - known domestic and international brands in the current market, such as Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, Apple, Lenovo, Founder, ASUS, Acer, Hasee, Xinlan, Haier, etc. Most laptops of these brands are produced by contract manufacturers in Taiwan, China.
Currently, the top 10 contract manufacturers are Quanta, Compal, Wistron, Inventec, Pegatron, ECS, FIC, MiTAC, Getac, and Clevo. Among them, the top 5 manufacturers account for more than 90% of the total shipment volume. In addition to these top ten contract manufacturers, MSI, Amoi, and Topstar still accept small - volume contract manufacturing services.
However, the global electronics computer OEM industry has long entered the "era of meager profits." In order to compete for orders from brand computer manufacturers, first-tier manufacturers engage in fierce price wars, and their profit margins have dropped below 4%. Second-tier manufacturers often fall into survival dilemmas because they fail to reach the economic scale. Meanwhile, the OEM industry also follows the rule of "the big get bigger." Many OEM factories have been eliminated in recent years, such as Twinhead and South Korean manufacturers like Samsung. To avoid being squeezed out, some manufacturers use methods such as mergers and acquisitions to strengthen themselves, resulting in the acquisition of other OEM enterprises. For example, Arima was acquired by Flextronics, and Mitac was acquired by ECS.
Introduction to the Top Ten Contract Manufacturers
Quanta
Quanta was founded in 1988 and is one of the world's largest OEM manufacturers of IT products, covering all OEM and ODM contract manufacturing businesses. According to incomplete statistics, currently at least one-third of the world's laptops are made by Quanta, making it a veritable "unsung hero". Quanta manufactures a wide variety of products, including laptops, LCD monitors and LCD PCs, mobile phones, PDAs, servers, storage media and other information products, with laptops being the main product. Quanta is also the world's largest laptop contract manufacturer and has established long-term cooperative relationships with well-known domestic and international brands such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Hasee and Apple. It is reported that when formulating its strategy for 2008 in 2007, Quanta aimed to challenge the milestone of manufacturing 40 million units through contract manufacturing. Among them, HP had an order volume of over 1 million units, and Apple also had over 800,000 units. The Apple MacBook Air is produced by Quanta. In addition, the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) computer that we are familiar with is also developed and produced by Quanta.
Compal
Compal was founded in 1984 and is the world's second-largest notebook OEM factory, second only to Quanta in terms of scale and strength. It mainly engages in the OEM business of notebook computers, monitors, digital consumer products, etc. In the field of notebook computer OEM, it basically covers products of all sizes and types. One of its 15.4-inch notebooks it designed supports dual hard drives and has been highly praised. Compal's major partners include HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell, etc. Since 2007, Compal has won large-volume orders from Dell from Quanta.
Wistron
The predecessor of Wistron was the DMS (Design, Manufacturing, Service) department established by Acer Computer in 1981. It became independent in May 2001 to specialize in OEM business and is still controlled by Acer. As one of the three pillars of the Pan - Acer Group, Wistron is one of the world's top OEM manufacturers, ranking only after Quanta and Compal in terms of rank and strength. Wistron's global partners mainly include Acer, Lenovo, Dell, HP, etc. However, in the field of ultra - portable and low - cost mini - laptops, Wistron doesn't seem to have officially received any cooperation orders yet. Previously, the ASUS Eee PC was manufactured by Pegatron, the Acer Aspire One was handed over to Quanta, the Dell E series was given to Compal, and Inventec manufactured HP's Mini - Note laptops.
Inventec
Inventec was founded in 1975 and is an established contract manufacturer. Currently, its main contract manufacturing businesses cover numerous fields such as mobile computing, wireless communication, network applications, digital home, and application software. Inventec's major partners include TCL, HP, Toshiba, BenQ, Acer, etc. Most of TCL's notebook products are manufactured by Inventec, while HP mainly has high - end models and low - cost laptops, such as the highly - regarded HP 2133. In early 2006, Inventec manufactured Acer's first 19 - inch notebook. Due to the machine's promotion and positioning, the contract manufacturing relationship between Inventec and Acer has long been little - known. Since 1999, the Inventec Group has established four subsidiaries, including Innostar, which designs, manufactures, and sells smartphones; Inprocomm, which produces multimedia network products; Ingentec, well - known for its electronic dictionaries; and Innex, which is engaged in the design and manufacturing of optoelectronic modules. The parent company, Inventec, is directly responsible for the contract manufacturing of notebooks and servers.
Comprehensive Overview of the Contract Manufacturer
In the field of IT product contract manufacturing, numerous contract manufacturers are like stars dotting the industrial sky. Each of them has a unique development history, business scope, and market positioning, jointly building a complex and huge contract manufacturing industrial chain. These contract manufacturers not only influence the production and supply of major brand products but also shape the landscape of the entire IT industry to a certain extent. Now, let's take a detailed look at several representative contract manufacturers.
Pegatron: The OEM Path after Separation from ASUS
In early 2008, ASUS made a major decision to separate its brand business from its OEM business. The spun-off OEM subsidiary is Pegatron. Like a runner taking over the baton, it mainly undertakes the OEM business of various IT products, with laptops being its core business.
After the split, Pegatron fully inherited the strong capabilities and foundation of ASUS's OEM manufacturing. Its OEM factories are widely distributed. It has set up factories in regions such as Taiwan, Shanghai, and Jiangsu in China, and also has subsidiary OEM factories in other countries like the Czech Republic. This extensive production network demonstrates Pegatron's non - negligible strength and scale. However, in the highly competitive notebook OEM manufacturing field, Pegatron now occupies the position of a second - tier OEM factory. Compared with the top four OEM factories, the gap in shipment volume is quite obvious. Nevertheless, in the past two years, with the significant increase in the sales volume of ASUS notebooks, Pegatron has also benefited from it, and its shipment volume has increased significantly.
In terms of customers, Pegatron's biggest customer is naturally its parent company, ASUS. Almost all of ASUS's notebook and PC products are outsourced to Pegatron for manufacturing. In addition, some models of domestic brands such as Lenovo, Haier, and Xinlan are also produced by Pegatron, but the volume of outsourced manufacturing is not large. There are also rumors that after the split, BenQ seems to have outsourced some models to Pegatron for manufacturing, but this information has not been confirmed.
Elite - Like - minded: Strength Enhancement after Mergers and Acquisitions
ECS has long mainly focused on motherboard and graphics card businesses, and has also ventured into the notebook OEM field. To enhance its strength in notebook OEM and expand production capacity, ECS has taken a series of measures. In 2001, it acquired Taiwan Zesheng; in 2006, it officially merged with Chi Ho, which specialized in OEM business. Through this series of merger and acquisition activities, ECS has significantly narrowed the gap with Pegatron in terms of comprehensive strength and is even comparable in some aspects. Since Chi Ho has a great influence in the notebook OEM field, when discussing the topic of notebook OEM today, many people still mention Chi Ho more often.
Uniwill was established on December 1st, 1998, and its name is derived from the Chinese idiom "zhidao he", which means like-minded people. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that started relatively late, its development should not be underestimated. Its headquarters is located in Wugu Industrial Park, Taipei, China, and its operation bases are spread all over the world. There is a factory in Suzhou in China, and abroad, there are a maintenance center in the Netherlands, a branch in the United States, a customer service center in Austria, a business office in Beijing, etc. In recent years, the vast majority of domestic notebook brands have become Uniwill's partners, such as Hasee, Founder, Haier, Tongfang, Xinlan, TCL, Great Wall, etc.; there are also many foreign brands, including Fujitsu - Siemens, Gericom, Trigem, Actebis, Infinity, Maxdata, Sotec, UNTEL, Good Energy, etc.
Volkswagen: The Mid - and Low - end Path of an Established Contract Manufacturer
FIC was established in 1980. In its early days, it centered on the motherboard business and later gradually entered the OEM/ODM contract manufacturing market. Its products cover desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, and grid terminal products, etc. Although it is a relatively established contract manufacturer, in the laptop contract manufacturing field, FIC can only be in the second-tier position, and its products are mainly targeted at the mid - and low - end markets.
Dell's partners include Haier, HP, Lenovo, NEC, Hitachi, etc. However, for big - name customers like HP and Lenovo, Dell is not their largest and most important OEM partner. When Lenovo initially made great efforts to enter the notebook computer and motherboard fields, Dell was Lenovo's chief OEM factory. But as Lenovo's shipment volume continued to increase, due to the need to diversify OEM production, Lenovo gradually shifted the focus of its OEM production to OEM factories such as Quanta, Compal and Wistron.DellDellDazhong
Flex - Huayu: The Contract Manufacturing Landscape after Transformation
Arima was established in 1989 and ranks among the second - and third - tier manufacturers in the notebook and server OEM industry. Unable to bear the continuous decline in profits in the PC industry, in 2007, Arima sold its entire notebook computer and server - related departments to Flextronics, the world's second - largest electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, including related assets such as factories, equipment, technology, and inventory. Meanwhile, all of its equity in subsidiaries in Japan, Texas, California in the United States, and the United Kingdom was also transferred. Although it has come under the umbrella of Flextronics, Arima remains one of the most - watched OEM brands in the notebook OEM field.
In the past, HuaYu's OEM customers mainly included Gateway, Amoi, etc. Nowadays, Gateway has switched to Quanta, and Amoi has also withdrawn from the notebook market. The number of HuaYu's OEM partners has decreased, but it still holds many large foreign orders.
MiTAC: Notebook OEM with a military industry background
Mitac was founded in 1989 as a joint venture between MiTAC International Corporation and General Electric Company of the United States. It focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of defense rugged computers and is one of the few domestic companies with the technology to research and produce military special - specification products. In 1998, in pursuit of scale and operational performance, MiTAC International Corporation merged its notebook computer division into Mitac. Since then, Mitac has entered the contract manufacturing field of commercial and consumer notebook computers.
The R & D strength of Getac should not be underestimated. It is said that the world's first notebook computer using the desktop Intel Pentium 4 processor was developed by Getac. However, due to its late start in the notebook OEM field, Getac is not well - known to the public. At present, Getac has production bases in Shunde, Guangdong and Kunshan, Shanghai. Its notebook computers are mainly produced in the Kunshan factory. Getac's notebook OEM customers are mainly some foreign brands. In China, it OEMs some models for BenQ. In fact, Getac was once a major OEM for Lenovo. However, because Getac focuses on military notebook computers and has little interest in civilian notebook computers, and Lenovo has strict requirements and a long payment cycle, the OEM relationship between the two sides was finally terminated. Most of Lenovo's former Zhaoyang series notebooks were OEMed by Getac.
Blue Sky: The High-end OEM Path after Transformation
CLEVO was established in 1983. In its early days, it was highly successful and achieved many "firsts" in the industry. It was one of the top-tier OEM manufacturers at that time, and its status was comparable to that of Wistron today. However, as the competition in the Taiwanese OEM market became increasingly fierce and the profits declined sharply, CLEVO urgently needed to find a new way out. In 1998, CLEVO invested in the Buynow electronics mall and spent more effort in the following years to transform into an interactive model of IT manufacturing and services.
Today, Lan Tian mainly focuses on the OEM manufacturing of laptops with a screen size of 17 inches or above. It has reaped rich rewards in the high - end gaming laptop market and also achieved good results in the European and American markets. Its OEM partners are mainly foreign brands, and the proportion of domestic customers is relatively small.
Other small contract manufacturers
In addition to the above six major contract manufacturers, there are also some small contract manufacturers that often become the focus of industry discussions.
MSI: As a globally well - known major manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, MSI can only be regarded as a third - tier manufacturer in the notebook field. It has good technological R & D capabilities. It not only has its own brand of notebook computers but also accepts OEM business, and performs outstandingly in the design of 13 - inch and 15 - inch notebooks. However, MSI's cost control of notebook molds has always been less than satisfactory, which is also one of the reasons why its notebooks cannot fully open up the Chinese market.
Amoi: In 2003, Amoi officially entered the laptop market. Due to the lack of foundation and technology in laptop R & D, Amoi poached an entire team from other large OEM manufacturers and designed many good products. However, due to poor management, Amoi's self - owned brand laptops soon got into trouble. In 2007, it officially announced a full withdrawal from the self - owned brand laptop market and transformed into an OEM manufacturer. Currently, Amoi's OEM service is somewhat well - known in China. Some individual models of domestic laptops use Amoi's molds, but the production volume is relatively small.
Topstar: Similar to Amoi, Topstar entered the notebook market in 2003. It successfully entered the domestic notebook market by leveraging the R & D teams of other OEMs. However, affected by factors such as market competition, Topstar quickly made strategic adjustments, abandoned its own brand, and transformed to focus on OEM manufacturing. Currently, Topstar's molds are mainly for the mid - and low - end market, and its products have certain competitiveness. Its partners include domestic manufacturers such as Haier, Tongfang, and Founder.
Revealing the OEM relationships of major brands
Lenovo
In 2000, when Lenovo made a major foray into the notebook computer field, its main OEM partner was FIC Computer. Nearly 70% of Lenovo's notebooks were produced by FIC's factories, and the remaining 30% were manufactured by Compal. As Lenovo's notebooks entered the international market and its shipment volume increased significantly, in 2002, Lenovo began to diversify its OEM partners. In addition to FIC, it added MiTAC, Quanta, Compal and Wistron. The strong capabilities of these major OEM manufacturers put FIC in a difficult situation. In 2003, FIC's OEM cooperation with Lenovo gradually shrank, and it was eventually removed from the list of OEM partners. Compal had also left the partnership before but later resumed cooperation. Subsequently, because MiTAC focused on military notebooks and showed little interest in civilian models, it also severed its relationship with Lenovo.
After Lenovo acquired IBM, its current OEM partners are mainly Wistron, Quanta, and Compal. The original series of models such as IdeaPad, ThinkPad, and Tianyi are outsourced to these three companies for manufacturing. Wistron is mainly responsible for 15 - inch and 12 - inch models, Quanta for 14 - inch models, and Compal for the vast majority of commercial models. Since Quanta has many and large cooperation orders, Lenovo is not Quanta's top - tier OEM partner. Therefore, more OEM production volume is given to Wistron, which almost monopolizes the OEM production of all ThinkPad series models. Of course, the boundaries of the OEM models of these factories are not clear. Different batches of the same product may come from different OEM factories. In addition, Lenovo also seems to maintain a certain cooperative relationship with OEM factories such as MiTAC, Chiaphua, and Pegatron.
HP (Hewlett-Packard)
HP's OEM partners are relatively stable, mainly including Wistron, Compal, Quanta and Inventec. Quanta and Inventec are mainly responsible for low - and mid - end consumer products, low - cost small laptops and some business models. The 12 - inch small laptops are exclusively produced by Wistron, which is good at this type of OEM. Compal focuses on high - and mid - end products and some business products. In addition to these four major OEM factories, some fragmented OEM business of HP will also be assigned to other OEM partners such as Pegatron and FIC.
Different from other brands, HP's OEM cooperation is very flexible. The OEM plan for the same product will be assigned to multiple OEM manufacturers. The one that offers a lower price while ensuring the same quality will get more orders. This non-fixed OEM strategy gives HP an edge in controlling the overall machine cost.
As a globally well - known major laptop manufacturer, Dell outsources the production of all its laptops. Currently, its main OEM partners are Quanta, Compal, and Wistron. For a long time, Quanta has been responsible for the OEM of Dell's business - class products, Compal for consumer - class products, and Wistron for 12 - inch portable models. In 2005, Dell skillfully employed the OEM strategy to incite competition between Quanta and Compal. After that, Quanta began to take on consumer - class orders, and Compal also grabbed some business - class orders. Moreover, the OEM costs of both companies decreased. Dell successfully played the role of the "fisherman" and achieved cost control.
The ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) market for laptops: A complex industrial landscape
Dell: Balancing the OEM Chess Game
In the past two years, Dell's OEM cooperation model has been re - approaching a balance, just like a well - planned chess game. Dell has entrusted its Latitude series and the low - cost Inspiron series to Quanta with confidence. Quanta has rich experience and mature technology in the OEM field, and can provide stable and efficient production support for these two series of products. Compal, on the other hand, continues to be responsible for consumer - oriented models. Relying on its keen insight into the consumer market and production flexibility, it meets the diverse needs of consumers.
The latest models in the Studio series are a fine manifestation of Dell's well - thought - out OEM layout. Dell distributes them to three OEM factories for production according to different sizes, types, and proportions. Among them, Wistron has received a considerable share in this cooperation. It's not hard to see that Dell intends to continue supporting Wistron to counter the possible monopoly situation that Quanta and Compal might form. After all, in the business world, maintaining a competitive balance can ensure the maximization of one's own interests. In addition, in 2001, Samsung also ventured into the OEM business of Dell laptops. However, in 2005, Samsung withdrew from the OEM market, and the two have since gone their separate ways.
ASUS: A Close Association After the Split
Pegatron, the contract manufacturer currently ranked fifth, was a subsidiary of ASUS before this year. Previously, all laptop products of ASUS's own brand were independently completed by relying on its own strong R & D and production capabilities. After the split, the relationship between Pegatron and ASUS remains extraordinary. Naturally, ASUS's laptop products are still entirely handled by Pegatron. This is not only due to the profound foundation of historical cooperation but also because the two sides have formed a high - level of tacit understanding and complementarity in terms of technology, craftsmanship and other aspects.
Fujitsu: A Japanese Model of Unyielding Quality
Among numerous notebook brands, Fujitsu is like a stubborn and persistent craftsman. Since entering the notebook market before 2000, it has always adhered to the path of in-house R & D and manufacturing. The vast majority of its notebook computers are produced in Japan, and all Fujitsu notebooks in China are imported as original products. Although this decision sacrifices a certain degree of cost control, it brings the greatest degree of quality assurance.
As the largest IT manufacturer in Japan, Fujitsu's strength should not be underestimated. It has more than 500 subsidiaries and 180,000 employees worldwide, and has profound accumulation in the field of communication and information technology. Whether it is mobile computing, servers, middleware, optical network technology, or the new generation of mobile communication, Fujitsu has advanced technologies with independent intellectual property patents and rich experience. Relying on these advantages and excellent manufacturing processes, Fujitsu's laptops won the laudatory title of "Japan's Little Black" very early on and became a symbol of quality and technology.
Sony: The Dual-track Path of Domestic Production and OEM
Notebooks from Japan and South Korea have always been known for their delicate and fashionable workmanship, but not all products are made in their home countries. Sony has a rather unique production model for its notebooks. For a long time, half of them are manufactured in Japan, and the other half are produced by Taiwanese contract manufacturers. Some extremely high - end models are mainly chosen to be made locally. For example, the early T series and TZ series were all produced in Japan. As for the latest Z series, it is still unknown whether it is produced by Quanta in Taiwan or in Japan. However, according to past practices, it is very likely that it is still manufactured in Japan.
Sony's shipment volume is relatively low, so it doesn't have many OEM partners, and the partnership has remained stable for a long time. The vast majority of its business models are basically outsourced to Quanta for manufacturing, including the professional G series, the ultra - portable SZ and CR series, as well as the newly launched SR series. The large - sized models targeting home entertainment applications, such as the FW series and NR series, are outsourced to ASUS for manufacturing. This is because ASUS has been manufacturing the PSP game console for Sony and has passed Sony's strict quality system verification. As a result, the two parties have established a very close cooperative relationship.
Apple: The Setbacks and Strategies of Outsourcing Manufacturing
Like Dell, almost all of Apple's product lines, including desktop computers, digital portable music players, laptops, etc., are manufactured through outsourced OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) production. The first company to manufacture Apple laptops was Taiwan's Chicony. However, in 2001 and 2003, Chicony was acquired twice by ECS and ASUS respectively. This led to the transfer of Apple's OEM cooperation twice, causing quite a few troubles for Apple. Frequent merger and acquisition storms are bound to have an impact on Apple's outsourced OEM business. Therefore, in 2003, Apple added Quanta as an OEM partner and entrusted Quanta with the production of its PowerBook series of models.
At that time, ASUS, which had not yet split up, had its own brand business. As a result, it had relatively few OEM orders and was also faced with competition from Quanta, which worsened its situation. In order to compete for orders, ASUS snatched back orders from Quanta by offering a lower OEM price. In the end, it was still Apple that reaped the benefits. This shows that inciting competition among OEM manufacturers has become a common practice for international big brands to reduce production costs.
In the past two years, Apple has updated its entire line of laptops to three major series: MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Among them, Asus still holds the vast majority of MacBook orders, while Quanta manufactures the 15.4 - inch and 17 - inch MacBook Pro models. During this period, Asus' OEM business was threatened by Foxconn, but ultimately Foxconn failed to achieve its goal. However, Quanta has won the contract for the latest MacBook Air OEM cooperation.
Toshiba: Adjustment and Transformation of the OEM Model
Toshiba laptops used to adopt a model that combined self - production and outsourcing. Before the end of 2004, Toshiba had three laptop production bases, namely the Ome Plant in Japan, Toshiba Hangzhou, and Toshiba Philippines. However, by the end of 2004, due to seriously insufficient capacity utilization and heavy losses, Toshiba closed the Philippine factory. In May 2005, the Ome Plant in Japan was also closed and converted into a trial product production line. Previously, the Ome Plant mainly produced laptops with a screen size of less than 13 inches, and these products were subsequently produced by the Hangzhou Plant.
In terms of outsourcing, Toshiba's biggest partners in the past were Compal, Inventec and Quanta. Among them, Toshiba had the closest cooperation with Compal. Most of Toshiba's business models and color - shell models were manufactured by Compal, accounting for about 70% of the share of Taiwanese OEM manufacturers. The remaining 20% were manufactured by Inventec, mainly some consumer models. Quanta had the lowest ratio of OEM production, which might be because Toshiba knew that most of the orders Quanta received were large - volume orders. After entering 2007, the OEM relationship changed. The largest OEM manufacturer became Quanta, followed by Inventec. Compal was neglected and only manufactured small - batch models.
Samsung: Wavering between Autonomy and OEM Manufacturing
Most of Samsung's laptops have always been independently developed and produced. In May 2005, Samsung completed the project of relocating all its laptop production lines to Suzhou. Since then, the Suzhou base has become the world's only production base for Samsung laptops. However, with the continuous increase in production demand, Samsung's Suzhou factory seems to be struggling to undertake all the manufacturing work. Therefore, there are rumors that Samsung has sought external OEM services several times in the past two years. Another claim is that some high - end models of Samsung laptops have been handed over to ASUS for OEM, while the mid - and low - end models are produced by Quanta. However, Samsung has not made an official statement on these claims, and the truth remains unknown. In addition, before 2005, Samsung also provided OEM services for Dell and Gateway, but soon withdrew from the OEM business.
Shenzhou: A Combination of Multiple Contract Manufacturing and Independent Production
Currently, Shenzhou's largest OEM partners are Chiunghwa and Quanta. Quanta is mainly responsible for the OEM production of mid - to high - end models, such as the HP series and the Chengyun series. Chiunghwa has taken on most of the orders for other mid - to low - end models. In addition, in 2007, some models were outsourced to MiTAC for OEM production.
Actually, the first company to do OEM work for Hasee was Chihtai. Since the beginning of 2003, Chihtai has been supplying products to Hasee. The products of their first cooperation covered high - end, mid - end and low - end product lines. All the "Tianyun Series" laptops that Hasee started to sell at that time were designed and mass - produced by Chihtai. At that time, Chihtai supplied 4,000 - 5,000 laptops to Hasee every month. Although the cooperation with Chihtai has always been good, considering that Chihtai also has several major customers such as Lenovo and Founder, in order to reduce the OEM cost, Hasee has successively established relationships with OEM manufacturers such as AOpen, Twinhead and Mitac.
In fact, Hasee also has its own production factory in Shenzhen, but the scale and production capacity are relatively small. Its main function is to enable Hasee to independently control the product release process and quickly respond to the upgrading of technologies and configurations, so as to gain the priority right to enter the market and have a say, and also provide strong support for its notebook products to repeatedly break through the price bottom line ahead of others.
Acer: OEM strategy with clear division of labor
Acer's three largest OEM partners are Wistron, Quanta, and Compal. Wistron ranks first in Acer's OEM cooperation because it is one of the three pillars of the Pan-Acer Group. Acer has a close relationship with Wistron, which can be described as "keeping the benefits within the family".
For these three major OEM manufacturers, Acer's division of labor is very clear. Quanta mainly manufactures business laptops that emphasize stable performance. Relying on its exquisite craftsmanship and strict quality control, it provides reliable products for Acer's business users. Compal mainly manufactures widescreen laptops that emphasize entertainment performance to meet consumers' needs for entertainment experience. Wistron manufactures the 12 - inch laptops and tablets that it is best at, leveraging its own technological advantages.
In terms of OEM distribution, Acer adopts the 30 - 30 - 30 principle. Basically, Wistron accounts for 35%, Quanta gets another 30%, Compal also gets 30%, and the remaining about 5% is assigned to Inventec, the fourth OEM manufacturer that joined in early 2006. Acer's first non - planned product, a 19 - inch laptop, was exactly made by Inventec. This OEM distribution principle enables Acer's products to have a relatively high cost - performance ratio, especially in the mid - to high - end products where the advantage is more obvious.
When it comes to Acer, its subsidiary Gateway has to be mentioned. Some of Gateway's early products were manufactured by Samsung and Unihan. Later, after Acer took over Gateway and gained the leading power in manufacturing, it entrusted all product manufacturing to Quanta.
BenQ: The Turbulence on the OEM Path
BenQ has performed excellently in fields such as monitors, mobile phones, and optical drives. Its affiliated company, AU Optronics, is also the largest liquid crystal panel manufacturer in Taiwan. Therefore, when BenQ announced its official entry into the notebook market in 2002, the top three OEM manufacturers, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, and Wistron, all agreed to accept BenQ's orders. However, later on, BenQ's shipment volume far failed to satisfy these top-tier OEM manufacturers. Coupled with the instigation of its competitor Acer, the three major OEM manufacturers severed their OEM relationships with BenQ.
Out of desperation, BenQ approached Inventec and the two sides formed an alliance. Inventec manufactured laptops for BenQ, while BenQ supplied liquid crystal panels to Inventec. In 2004, with the start of the price war for laptops, the manufacturing cost charged by Inventec to BenQ was relatively high. To cope with the price war, BenQ had to seek cooperation with another OEM manufacturer, MiTAC, which was responsible for most of the low - end products. Meanwhile, in 2007, BenQ cancelled the cooperation with Inventec. Additionally, it is rumored that after ASUS completed its spin - off in 2008, BenQ intended to assign part of its OEM work to Pegatron. Currently, BenQ's laptop OEM work is mainly divided between Quanta and MiTAC. Among them, the ultra - thin laptop with a discrete graphics card, the X31, launched this year, was produced by Quanta.
NewBlue, Haier, TCL, Founder: Their Respective OEM Stories
Currently, Newland's main OEM partners are Quanta, ASUS, and Compal, accounting for approximately 60%, 20%, and 20% respectively. It is rumored that Newland once used the molds from ECS. However, due to its poor workmanship, ordinary texture, and relatively high return rate, Newland later found Quanta and listed it as the primary OEM partner.
Haier entered the laptop market in 2002 but announced its withdrawal at the end of 2002. However, it rejoined in March 2004. Its development process has been full of twists and turns. In terms of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing), Haier has cooperated with multiple OEM factories, including Wistron, Compal, FIC, Pegatron, ECS, Samsung, etc. At the beginning of 2004, Haier signed OEM agreements with Wistron, Compal and FIC. Each of the three factories made a batch of laptops for Haier on a trial basis. Later, Asus also joined the list of Haier's OEM partners. Currently, Haier's main OEM partners are Pegatron and ECS.
TCL also entered the notebook computer field in 2002. In December 2002, TCL signed an OEM contract with Inventec, and later the relationship between the two parties was terminated. Then, TCL approached many OEM manufacturers. However, in order to control the OEM cost, all the manufacturers TCL approached were second - tier OEM factories. TCL's first widescreen notebook computer was commissioned to MiTAC for production. Later, it turned to FIC, and then to Clevo. In addition, the 12 - inch thin and light notebook was also entrusted to Wistron, which has a good reputation, for OEM production, while the classic model K10 was entrusted to Chi Mei for production. At present, TCL's production volume is gradually shrinking, so it can only maintain OEM relationships with one or two second - and third - tier factories.
Founder's notebook computers were initially entrusted to Clevo for production. Later, due to dissatisfaction with Clevo's heat dissipation design, Founder switched to other manufacturers. In 2003, Founder signed an order with Clevo, ECS, and Wistron for 150,000 notebook computers per year. By 2005, Founder partnered with leading OEM manufacturers Quanta and Compal, focusing on high - end models. Meanwhile, it also maintained OEM relationships with MiTAC and Chi Mei, which were responsible for mid - and low - end products.
Industry and user perspectives: The impact of the OEM relationship
From an industry perspective, the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) relationships in the notebook industry are like an extremely complex network. There may be a situation of "products with the same 'parent factory' but different 'brand names'" among brands, that is, products of different brands may be manufactured by the same OEM. Brands and OEMs bargain and outwit each other for profit, and there is also open and covert competition and poaching between OEMs. All these reflect the unfathomable nature of this industry. Moreover, in different time periods, there will be different competition and co - existence patterns. Behind the seemingly calm market, there are actually undercurrents of annexation and elimination brewing.
However, for users, due to the existence of original equipment manufacturing (OEM) relationships, it's possible that each person's purchased notebook products of the same brand, the same series, or even the same model may not be from the same factory. This often leads to phenomena such as deviations in the quality and workmanship between the product A you bought and the product A I bought. Therefore, when purchasing notebooks, in addition to paying attention to the brand and model, users also need to have a certain understanding of the OEM situation of the products so as to make more appropriate choices.
In today's era of rapid technological development, laptops have become an indispensable and important tool in people's lives and work. However, choosing a laptop in the laptop market filled with a wide variety of products and numerous brands is truly a headache for consumers. After we delve deeper into understanding the industrial phenomenon of "original equipment manufacturing (OEM)", when we go to buy a laptop, we can have a bit more certainty and composure in our hearts, just like a ship sailing in the vast ocean finding a lighthouse to guide its direction.
So-called OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing), in simple terms, means that one manufacturer produces products for another manufacturer according to the latter's requirements, relying on its own production equipment, technological processes, human resources and other resources. In the notebook computer industry, the phenomenon of OEM is extremely common. Many well-known notebook brands may not have large-scale manufacturing plants themselves, but instead outsource the production process to professional OEM enterprises. These OEM enterprises often possess advanced production technologies, mature technological processes and rich manufacturing experience.
Take some internationally well - known original equipment manufacturing (OEM) enterprises as examples. They have long been engaged in the OEM production of laptops for different brands. During the production process, these OEM enterprises strictly follow the design requirements and quality standards set by the brand owners. From the procurement and assembly of components to the final inspection stage, every step is carried out with meticulous care. This means that even though laptops of different brands may vary in terms of appearance, configuration, etc., they may come from the production line of the same OEM enterprise.
After learning about these situations of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing), it is of great significance for us when purchasing laptops. First of all, in terms of brand selection, we won't just be limited to the brand's popularity. Some laptops of niche brands, although their brand influence is relatively small, if they are produced by well - known OEM enterprises, then their quality and workmanship are likely not inferior to those of big - brand products. At this time, we can comprehensively consider factors such as price and performance and make a more rational choice.
Secondly, there will also be a clearer understanding of the quality control of products. We know that the production level of OEM enterprises largely determines the quality of products. If an OEM enterprise has a good reputation and rich production experience, the quality of the laptops it manufactures on behalf of others is usually guaranteed. When making a purchase, we can preliminarily judge the quality of a product by learning about its OEM information.
Furthermore, understanding contract manufacturing can also enable us to keep a clear head when faced with various marketing gimmicks in the market. Some brands may exaggerate the advantages of their products. After understanding the essence of contract manufacturing, we can see through these promotions and recognize the true features of the products, and will not be misled by false advertising.
In conclusion, after we have gained an in - depth understanding of the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) industrial phenomenon, when buying a laptop, it is like having a key to open the door of rational consumption. We can more comprehensively and objectively evaluate laptops of different brands and models. Then, based on our actual needs and budget, we can make the most appropriate purchase decision, ensuring that every penny is well - spent.