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China to Be Laptop Leader

prostoalex writes "IMS Research says that by the end of the year People Republic of China might become world's biggest laptop manufacturer. The plants will be largely owned by Taiwanese manufacturers, though. Taiwan is current #1."

44 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. HELP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Help! I'm trapped inside a laptop factory!

  2. Interesting... by Negative+Response · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Frequency of stories about Chinese tech stuff certainly picked up recently. What's going on there?

    1. Re:Interesting... by Negative+Response · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Uh, asked a dumb question, get a dumb answer.
      1. I was asking why there are more and more tech news about China, not why they would become #1 in laptop manufacturing
      2. Lots of businesses are not owned by the state in China, did you read the article where it says those laptop factories are run by Twainese?
      3. Biggest laptop market is probably not China (yet), so what's about that "Government prevent any other laptop from being sold" stuff?
      Have a nice day, troll.
    2. Re:Interesting... by appleLaserWriter · · Score: 4, Interesting

      China has set a goal to be a world leader in semiconductor manufacture and a competitive force in software development in the next few years. I'm sure there will be more news to come.

      Language is a major roadblock for Chinese IT. Either you have to learn english or use a cumbersome encoding system to work in Mandarin. This will work as a slowing factor in software development and motivate research into new data entry methods.

    3. Re:Interesting... by Kierthos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, I don't see China becoming the biggest market for laptops any time soon. With a 2002 per capita income of $4600, I can't see most Chinese spending what would probably be food money for a couple of months on a laptop.

      The U.S., as a comparison had a 2001 per capita income of $36,300. We can afford laptops and have money to spare.

      Kierthos

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    4. Re:Interesting... by Pieroxy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1. You were asking a very vague question to which I responded partially. Don't blame me for the dumbness of your questoin.
      2. Because the plant is not Chinese does't mean that the state can't controll the whole process does it?
      3. If the gov decides to be the biggest distributor, they just have to prevent any other distributor from selling laptops. It's just the way it works for many stuff around there.

      Who's the troll now?

  3. Hey... by Kenrod · · Score: 2, Funny


    We've been worried about China invading Taiwan - looks like Taiwan invaded China to me...

    --
    Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!
  4. "Laptop Leader"?? by tgrotvedt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The leadership we're talking about here is production only. I don't see how having more low wage workers to exploit equates to development leadership. I don't mean to use the word "exploit" too negatively though, this will probably be a good thing.

    The more low-paid jobs available, the more competition for labour, and as a result, better working conditions and pay.

    --
    What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
    1. Re:"Laptop Leader"?? by siddhartha03 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      More competition for very low paying jobs puts the people in general at a disadvantage. Who will care that you are sick and can't work if 2 million other people can fill your place and are EAGER to do so?

      --
      Sock puppets stole my sig.
    2. Re:"Laptop Leader"?? by chenyu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The article was very confused as far as geography. Suzhou is a city in Jiangsu province. I can easily believe that laptops make up 40% of the revenue of Suzhou, but there is no way that laptops make up 40% of the revenue of Jiangsu.

      Also, its a common mistake to think of China as one big economy with 1 billion people. It's more accurate to think of it as 20 or 30 interacting little economies which can be very different from one another.

    3. Re:"Laptop Leader"?? by cyberon22 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nice to read some posts by someone who obviously knows China.

      That being said, I'd disagree that its the rural migrants are sopping up assembly-line jobs with the ODMs and that this is driving outsourcing to China. First of all, those guys go into construction, retail, and other kinds of jobs which don't require things like clean rooms. People in the US leap to the assumption that labour costs explain everything because of the dominance of the neoclassical economic paradigm, but realistically if this was just about labour there would be a hell of a lot more development in inland and northern China than there is now. Suzhou isn't exactly a haven for cheap wages the way... Fujian is, for instance.

      I think its also a popular misconception that labour costs in China are significantly cheaper than elsewhere -- say parts of Indonesia, Malaysia. The difference is an easy investment channel from Taiwan (no language barrier), and ready access to the mainland market. China still has significant tariffs on imported laptops. The bulk of these might phase out over time in line with China's accession to the WTO, but I wouldn't count on them disappearing completely. If you want to sell your products in China there are still a lot of incentives to produce them there....

  5. Well, it figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Slave labor tends to reduce costs to just about the bare minimum. Maybe we'll start seeing some brand new $500 laptops soon. I kind of feel bad to think that a group of poor Chinese kids will toil for hours assembling my computer for pennies a day. Children get easily distracted, especially when they're worrying about their mother being tortured by the factory manager for falling behind in production.

    1. Re:Well, it figures by Tailhook · · Score: 2, Informative

      Any proof for child or slave labor there?

      You're kidding right?

      Fans of Chinese slave labor can buy apparel here. If you're not a fan you might consider supporting legislation such as this. If you don't know enough about the topic to decide whether or not you're a fan, do some reading. My government has. Well, enough to have formed a policy on the matter. If you're all about self-reliance, just feed the term Laogai into Google.

      Enjoy your Chinese laptop.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  6. Not News by westyvw · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ya Think China might make laptops cheap? And make many of them? Thats NEWS HOW?

    Course I want them for 99 cents like everything else I would buy from china.....

  7. hmmm by prichardson · · Score: 2, Insightful

    China to be largest manufacturer of laptops....

    Not to troll, but I think that a lot of laptops that will come out of china will suck, just like a lot of the other toys and electronics that come out of China. On the other hand, it probably would drive the price down enough for me to afford one in addition to my desktop. Personally, I won't be getting one of these laptops from China because I am a mac freak and never want to use any OS other than Mac OS X ever again.

    I think that quality needs to be emphasized for electronics. Laptops are diing long before their useful life is up. Also, things that don't go obsolete very fast (DVD players, Stereos, VCRs, the like) shou;dn't break in six months. I know this violates short term business models (if it breaks they have to buy a new one and we get another sale). Planned obselescence is a terrible thing.

    --
    Help I'm a rock.
    1. Re:hmmm by hype7 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Not to troll, but I think that a lot of laptops that will come out of china will suck, just like a lot of the other toys and electronics that come out of China. On the other hand, it probably would drive the price down enough for me to afford one in addition to my desktop. Personally, I won't be getting one of these laptops from China because I am a mac freak and never want to use any OS other than Mac OS X ever again.


      This is what people used to say about Taiwan, and before Taiwan, Japan.

      Now, Taiwan is responsible for producing a number of Apple's computers. They also supply memory to computer manufacturers all over the world.

      Japan started out life by creating second-rate consumer goods like watches and cameras. While their watches haven't improved that much (j/k), Nikon et al produce some of the best cameras you can buy. Not that it was always like that. And what about Honda/Toyota, etc? When they first came out, those were the cars you bought when you'd just been declared bankrupt. Now, they're some of the most reliable cars you can buy; Japan pushed the just-in-time production model and numerous other innovations, and their automotive industry is one of the most vibrant in the world.

      And so it will be with China. So while now you might say how crap they are, there's a US $100bn per year trade deficit between the US and China in China's favour (I think that figure is correct), and all that money will continue to go towards making China the new Japan.

      -- james
    2. Re:hmmm by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Personally, I won't be getting one of these laptops from China"

      Actually, all of Apple's notebooks are made in Taiwan by "Quanta Computer Inc." and "Eslitegroup Computer System". They may very well soon be made in China, if it is cheaper to produce them there.

      Apple may represent "quality" to many people, but the reality is that the're made by the same companies as every other computer. The chips are made by Motorola/IBM/TSMC (vs. AMD/Intel/TSMC for PCs), and the drives/LCD screens/keyboards/cases are likely made by the same corporations.

    3. Re:hmmm by hype7 · · Score: 2, Informative
      Apple may represent "quality" to many people, but the reality is that the're made by the same companies as every other computer.


      This is OT, but it deserves a response.

      It's not just the parts, but how they're put together that makes a product well designed. The fact is, the quality of components that go into making a Renault and a BMW and not that different. However, in most cases the BMW has had better initial design, so that the parts work together better. Stresses, tensions, component placement, etc all work in harmony. Or at least better than in Renaults (not that Renaults are bad cars). That's why people pay more for Beemers (or at least partly - if the build was crap, the brand's reputation wouldn't be that good).

      Similarly, the amount of thought and design that goes into a Powerbook versus something like a Dell Latitude means that although the HD and memory and all the other commodity component parts are the same, the design of the cases and where these components are placed go into giving Apple some of the best built laptops in the industry.

      -- james
    4. Re:hmmm by evilviper · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's time we bring back the bumper-sticker:

      "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Rice-Burners."

      I guess changing "Drive" to "Buy" would be appropriate.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    5. Re:hmmm by hype7 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Well, sure, Japan no longer produces so much cheap junk. That's why Taiwan, and now China ate their lunch.


      And that's how it works! Eventually the amount of money China makes from the "cheap junk" (btw, I would hardly call RAM from Taiwan "cheap junk") will raise the standard of living, education and level of innovation. Suddenly, the "cheap junk" China turns out won't be cheap or junky any more. Wages will go up, and quality of goods will go up - and with it, the prices of the goods. A hole will open for another poor country to start producing the "cheap junk".

      China is already on the road out of "cheapness". Did you know that a very large selection of the good "English" hi-fi equipment is now made in China? The quality of these components is quite high, too.

      Taiwan is on the road to be at a Japanese-level manufacturer, and China is on the road to be a Taiwanese-level manufacturer.

      And, in case you hadn't guessed by now, this is all basic economics - otherwise known as the Trickle Down Theory.

      -- james
    6. Re:hmmm by Malcontent · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Wages will go up, and quality of goods will go up - and with it, the prices of the goods. A hole will open for another poor country to start producing the "cheap junk"."

      Once the companies leave then a bust cycle will begin. There will be a prolonged period of unemployment and depression/recession. Eventually the standard of living will be pretty much where it was before. Maybe once the cambodians (or wherever the jobs went) get uppidy and demand more money the jobs might come back but more likely they will migrate to africa or someplace even more destitute.

      Eventually some country will imprison a sizable minority of it's people and offer their labor for cheap to companies. This form of legalized slavery will start another chain reaction and before long a sizable chunk of the humans on this planet will be imprisoned and enslaved. People will be jailed for having one to two marijuana seeds for ten years and in prison they will work for AT&T making telemarketing calls.

      Oh wait a minute that's already happening right here in the USA.
      http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispat ch/200 1-11-23/pols_naked3.html
      http://www.prisontalk.co m/forums/archive/topic/115 05.html
      http://kcd.com/goa/issues/2000/q1/Jail.ht m

      I am sure these kinds of prison labor programs will be expanded hugely in the US and overseas. Imagine a couple of million slaves in china, US or africa manufacturing toys or sneakers for next to nothing. Of course the US prisons will have to degrade to the level of chinese or african prisons to compete.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    7. Re:hmmm by chenyu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Another person that doesn't understand China.

      Nepotism and lack of transparency are not as big of problems as you think they are. If you are a Western company doing business in China, you will most likely find the brother-in-law of the Politiburo, put him on your board of directors, and pay him enough so that he doesn't mess things up for you. It doesn't cost that much more than a good lawyer would, and if brother in law of Politburo one demands too much, you can always drop him and go to nephew of Politburo two. (I'm oversimplifying. In most cases, you probably don't want a nephew of a Politburo member. The nephew of the county administrator would be more useful, but you get the idea.)

      China is not Communist in any meaningful sense of the word. About 20 years ago, the Chinese leadership figured out that Communism doesn't work, so they junked that system.

  8. Still, they are to be controlled by western corps. by gotr00t · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Though the simple task of manufacture has been handed down to the Chinese, it is still the western companies that design and market the devices.

    I think that we all know that mainland China manufactures a lot of stuff, but what does this prove? That cheap labor attracts business? It comes to me not as any suprise that this was eventually going to happen. A major leap forward would be that China has the most laptop users in the world or possibly that a Chinese computer company has outsold one of western counterparts, but this is really no big suprise.

  9. Laptops.. ehh by ThoreauHD · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm more concerned about the missle manufacturers producing parts over there. The DOD seems to have lost their fortitude when it comes to executing people for treason. Perhaps that will change before they nuke us for interfering with Taiwan.

    I think laptops fall into the category of toilet paper and rice balls. Who gives a shit. Nobody's gonna die cause your crappy Dell can't run WinblowZ 2010.

    1. Re:Laptops.. ehh by shione · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually you should care. If China stayed a shithouse state then you're more likely to be 'nuked'. Look at how n korea is and how they envy the south. Not very peaceful there is it?
      but I put nuked in commas because you wouldn't go attack someone that owes you $100b each year. Nor would you be building the worlds largest dam or the worlds tallest building or the world's longest trans-oceanic Bridge (completed) or the worlds biggest condom just to risk losing them all in a war.

      Regarding your comment about 'who gives a shit', when the standard of living in China improves to the level of 1st world nations and the chinese people get smarter from the money their parents spend on their schooling (which they make by working like slaves in factories such as these laptop places about to be built) there will come a time when the people will in force demand for a more democratic govt. Sure these students might be a bit brainwashed but education unavoidably = free thinking and if they don't get what they want they will fight for it. Or maybe the country will change over peacefully. If it happened in the former USSR it could happen again.

  10. In Other News... by Valar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People are finally realizing China isn't quite as bush league as they thought.

    Seriously though, China is a manufacturing superpower. They have lots of high tech neighbors willing to put money into China (and they aren't doing so badly with their R&D either), a huge population, and a large/rapidly expanding production capacity. They really are in an ideal place to manufacture all kinds of electronics.

    1. Re:In Other News... by burns210 · · Score: 2, Informative

      ya, and the cheap labor helps too...
      Do you think China would be as popular a place to manufacture things in if it had salary laws similar to the US?
      Granted, there are many things that give
      China a strong hold in the 'made in X' market, but not having to pay each worker the equvilent of 6-7 US Dollars an hour has to be a huge factor.

  11. I don't know about you... by imag0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. But I welcome our Chineese Laptop overlords.

  12. local Consumption ? by ramzak2k · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I dont see to many "Made in China" laptops at the stores here in Canada. The one i am typing this on is made in Japan (Toshiba satellite) and another major laptop brand Dell has all its production facilities in US except maybe the desktop units for the japanese market.

    --

    Siggy Say, Siggy Do
    1. Re:local Consumption ? by cperciva · · Score: 3, Informative

      I [don't yet] see [too] many "Made in China" laptops at the stores here in Canada.

      That's beacuse companies don't like to advertise that fact. Companies often outsource their production; and as long as they do some basic testing, who will know the difference?

      I don't know if this is still the case, but at one point IBM was outsourcing the production of its low-end laptops to Acer; Acer is one of the companies investing in mainland China.

      IBM laptops aren't going to be labelled "Made in China" any time soon, but they could certainly have been made there.

  13. The problem with Taiwanese business man by BurningTyger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    >IMS Research says that by the end of the year People Republic of China
    >might become world's biggest laptop manufacturer. The plants
    >will be largely owned by Taiwanese manufacturers, though.
    >Taiwan is current #1.

    The problem with business man in general is that they drift where the money is, and care less about the impact to their own country (if they even consider Taiwan to be a country in the first place, regardless if they were born there).

    The impact to the shift of labtop industry from Taiwan to China (by Taiwanese company) are two folds.

    First, China gains a competitive edge to the industry, and to the overall economy of China and can later be used to bargain against Taiwan. (Heck, China already is using the new found money from its booming economy to buy 3rd world nations' support against Taiwan)

    Second, Taiwan loses leadership in the industry, the economy suffers, unemplyeement rate increases due to the moving of manufacturing plants to China.

    Most Taiwanese people still fail to realize that China is still a hostile nation towards Taiwan. And China still threaten to invade or bomb Taiwan if Taiwan refused to reunite with China.

    God.. I mean... can you imagine American business man supporting Iraq so that Iraq has more money to build missles to aim at US ??

  14. Re:The immorality of Open Source by siddhartha03 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I doubt Stallman would consider The People's Republic of China a TRUE socialist country. But anyways. Why does it matter that they use it? Are you saying because something can be used in a "bad" way such as you described we shouldn't do it in the first place? And about Microsoft being able to shutdown XP remotely. Would that really matter in a war? Would shutting down ALL their computers damage the millitary that much?

    --
    Sock puppets stole my sig.
  15. Most are made in China. by Kurt+Russell · · Score: 3, Informative

    ODM links
    I think Apple powerbooks are now made by Compal.

  16. NewsFlash! by Dr.+Bent · · Score: 4, Funny

    This just in: They make stuff in China.

    Stay tuned for these other breaking developments...

    - Scientists discover it's really cold in Siberia.
    - U.S. Justice Department admits life not fair.
    - FDA Bombshell: Eating too much can make you fat.

    all this and Andy Rooney, tonight on 60 minutes.

  17. You miss one important point by poptones · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's not pirating if the law allows it. If your government chooses not to recognize the copyright protections afforded by other nations, then it ain't piracy. The US did exactly this in the beginning - just as many underpriviledged nations still do today.

    Why do you think the US is so keen on coercing the world's nations into signing onto the WTO treaty? In the case of china, who has the power? The US, who buys all those goods? Or china, who supplies all those cheap goods the people of the US depends on?

  18. Well, yeah... by softspokenrevolution · · Score: 4, Insightful

    China has a large and well educated population that is increasingly moving toward High Tech items, because other countires (such as Taiwan) have traditionally dominated these markets and have kept pries rather high. Using cheaper (criminally, but that's editorializing) labor they can bring to market a cheaper product (of similar quality). Heck, even software jobs are moving to south east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, in an airing of Talk of the Nation a few weeks ago, they were discussing the high levels of education and low cost of workers for fields from mechanical engineering, to software design and tech support in foreign countries, especially since the incerasing wiredness of the world and these countries in particular makes it easier (and more cost effective) than ever.

    I think that in the next few years there will be an even greater outsourcing of these sorts of projects. India and Bangladesh are typically cheaper markets then China to work in, and we can probably look forward to those countries entering into these markets.

    Now for my editorial, because I have to have it (you can stop reading if you'd like). with the US job market as tight as it is right now, it is a major ethical dillema to be outsourcing High paying jobs to countires where the worker that would make $60,000 a year here, makes $5,000 over there. It puts the US economy in grave danger of collapsing in on itself as these lucrative jobs are removed and th emarket has to return to a service and agricultural based economy (the latter of which is becoming a smaller employer but larger business by the year). In all hopes this would see the rise in the standards of living for the average person in China, Micronesia, wherever, but it doesn't seem like the transition would be quick as workers there would have to get it in their heads that they deserrve that amount of money. (To sum, it's like an emerging basketball trend, American players (on the whole) have no actual proficiency with teh sport (though they have a great deal of raw physical talent), and eastern European players do. This means an increasing influx of Eastern European players until they become complacent in their position and the Americans learn to play the game (with little things like passing, and team work)).

    Ideally, (and I'm being naive) there is a way to protect American jobs while increasing (or ostensibly increasing) the standard of living in foreign countries. If the US government, or the AMerican consumer, would refuse to allow the sale of (or purchase) goods that were manufactured or generated by workers who were not treated equally to their American counterparts. Of course, in teh drive for cheap stuff there are no rules. [end]

  19. Visit and see.... by djupedal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I'm leaving South Korea to work in China soon, and I couldn't be happier.

    Tech is just one part, but business is booming, and now is the time to get in.

    1. Re:Visit and see.... by djupedal · · Score: 2

      Beats bush and ashcroft :)

    2. Re:Visit and see.... by chenyu · · Score: 2

      Whereas the United States is the land of racial lynchings, serial killers, and snipers.

      Yes, I know that this is a distorted view of the United States, that there are a lot of nice things about the U.S. and you get into very misleading stuff, if you look at the worst about country.

      What was your point again?

  20. It's A New World Record! by SEWilco · · Score: 3, Funny
    People Republic of China might become world's biggest laptop manufacturer.

    Generally people have wanted the smallest laptop, but someone has to set the record for the biggest laptop.

  21. Chinese products suck by rinkjustice · · Score: 2

    China might become world's biggest laptop manufacturer.

    Yeah, they'll usurp the laptop market with ultracheap, super low quality products that don't work properly just as they've done with most electronics. No wait, most products you find in North America period!

    Strange how business people in capitalist countries will opt for inferior products from an opposing communist country (with a horrible human rights record) just to save a few bucks and be competitive in the free market society they hold so dear. The irony is too much.

  22. How low can you go? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It seems to me like the Taiwanese have moved their production to China where labour is cheaper. Similar to how companies that moved their call centres and programming teams to India are now looking for even cheaper places.

    What bugs me is that I'm an unemployed programmer, and I can't compete with people who consider 4000/year a good wage. Plus, anyone who employs me needs to pay tax, social security and contribute to my pension.

    Where will it end? Is someone gonna code for food?

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  23. Mandarin input is faster. by Analogue+Kid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apparently you know very little about Mandarin, or it's input. For Japanese input, there is a big speed penalty. But Chinese input is faster.

    Most people in Taiwan use either bpmf input or canjie. Most people in mainland China use either pinyin or canjie. Bpmf and pinyin are phonetic input methods which are approximately the same speed as English. Canjie input is based upon the structure of a character instead, and is MUCH faster than English input. I can type over 200 words per minute with canjie, and many professional typists can type at over 300.

    There is no "slowing factor" in typing Mandarin. In fact, I would argue that by lacking a meaning based orthographic system, that English is a "slowing factor".

    China will own IT.

    --
    I'm a gnu world man.
  24. Uh, excuse me one second, by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 2, Insightful

    TROLL? FLAMEBAIT?? Are you kidding me??

    All the things I said are documented fact.

    PROVE that stuff from China is high quality and not total crap. You can't because it is crap.
    The only quality products ever to come from China where silk and chinaware a few hundred years ago. Now they just crank out cheap crap to flood Wally World with so they can the Chinese communist military machine running..

    A HUGE percentage of the "goods" made in China are made by prison labor, namely political prisoners, I.E. those dissidents that oppose the State.

    The communist government is murderous. Ever seen the video of Tiananmen square butchery??

    How about Tibet? Or those people that just want to do that exercise thing in the park??

    Boy, if you think that China is anything other than a murderous, oppressive country, you live in a bubble.

    When you buy crap from China you HELP keep that system running. Every TV you buy made in China or Tiawan puts another AK-47 in the hands of a Chinese soldier that will use that AK-47 against his own people and will gladly use it against Americans if told to do so.

    The Chinese are spoiling for war, they support North Korea, they've been caught RED handed stealing nuclear weapons secrets (W88 come to mind eh?), missle secrets, they are forever spying on America.

    They even threatened to wipe California off the map with nuclear weapons if we interfered with them when they were reclaiming Tiawan and again if they weren't granted MFN trade status.

    And we gave in to those terrorist threats. What's wrong with that picture eh??

    You folks better come out of mommies basement and wake up!
    Turn off the Sci-fi channel and take the red pill. Or just take the blue pill and be happy..

    Your choice. No troll, no flaimbait, just truth..