Taiwan's Bicycle Industry

choi

(1) Nicole Formosa, Volume down, value up for Taiwan exports. Bicycle Retailer, Jan 20, 2012
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/6391.html

(2) Robin Kwong, Tony Lo; CEO, Giant Manufacturing. Financial Times, Jan 23, 2012 (in the column View from the Top).

Quote:

Introduction: "Tony Lo is the chief executive of Giant Manufacturing, the world's biggest bicycle maker by revenue. A Taiwanese company with factories both on the islandand in mainland China * * *

"Edited highlights of a video interview with FT.com appear below.

Q: "Giant has been one of the main beneficiaries of the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement, the trade deal signed between China and Taiwan 18 months ago. What has changed for you since then?

A: "In the last year we have seen bicycle export from Taiwan to China almost double to 16,000 units. * * *

Q: "Have you considered moving your factories in China? Perhaps further inland?

A: "We do have a factory in Chengdu in the west but we moved there not because of wages but to service the domestic market. Right now wages might be a bit cheaper inland but I think it's only a matter of time before they are going to go to the same level. So I don't think it would be very wise just to move there for cheaper labour, unless what you produce is very small and cheap. But for anything big, like a bicycle, then you think about inland freight and that will offset any possible saving.

Q: "how do you stimulate new demand?

A: "The bicycle has already benn around for 247 years, [but it's] just in the past 10 years that people are cycling rather than biking. [so there's a marget out there for cycling.]

Q: "How do you guard against a Chinese company following in your footsteps and becoming a major competitor?

A: "* * * In Taiwan we remain more on the high end, more innovative products. * * *

Q: "But with the [China's] central government encouraging companies to move up the value chain, why shouldn't the high end also move to China?

A: "This is a question I asked myself 30 years ago. Taiwan is the place where we can do a lot of things, so I said I can do what Italy is doing or what Japan is doing. But it took me 30 years to get there--to make the high-end, high quality products. It's not just about wanting to do it; it's about the whole industry, people's minds, everything.

"MORE ON FT.COM  For the full interview with Tony Lo, go to www.ft.com/vftt"

Note:
(a) history of the bicycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle

section 4 1860s and the Michaux or "boneshaker":

"The first really popular and commercially successful design was a French one (an example of the style is held in the Museum of Science and Technology (Ottawa)).

"The velocipede's renaissance began in Paris during the late 1860s. Its early history is complex and has been shrouded in some mystery, not least because of conflicting patent claims: all that has been stated for sure is that a French metalworker attached pedals to the front wheel; at present, the earliest year bicycle historians agree on is 1864. The identity of the person who attached cranks is still an open question at International Cycling History Conferences (ICHC). The claims of Ernest Michaux and of Pierre Lallement, and the lesser claims of rear-pedaling Alexandre Lefebvre, have their supporters within the ICHC community.

(b) Pierre Michaux puts pedals to work. Canada Science and Technology Museum (Ottawa), undated.
http://www.sciencetech.technomus ... lection/cycles5.cfm
("One of these, Pierre Michaux, turned his version (810204) into a huge commercial success in France. Pierre Lallement, an expatriate Frenchman working in the United States, also patented a velocipede design that gave rise to a bicycle industry in North America")
(c) Alexandre Lefèbvre (French-American inventor). Encyclopaedia Britannica.
(d) There is no need to read the rest of the FT report.