Recent isic_gsi items

The Dynamics of HDD Industry Development in Singapore

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Singapore accounted for 45-50% of the global shipment of HDD units during the 1986-96 period, making it the single most important location in the world for HDD assembly since the mid-1980s. The continuing concentration of the HDD industry in Singapore comes despite the significant increase in wage and land costs relative to her regional neighbours since the late 1980s. How has Singapore managed to attract and retain such a large share of this industry¹s manufacturing base? This study discusses the origins of the industry on the island, and how it subsequently grew and transformed. It examines the development of an internationally competitive local supplier base, the government¹s important influence on the evolution of the HDD industry in Singapore, and how these two groups helped to attract more technologically advanced HDD value chain activities to the island.

Conspicuous Failures and Hidden Strengths of the ITRI Model: Taiwan's Technology Policy Toward Hard Disk Drives and CD-ROMs

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

A decade of stagnation and financial crisis have discredited the heavy-handed industrial policies of Japan and Korea, particularly preferential allocation of capital to large companies. In contrast, the remarkable growth of specialized yet flexible computer and semiconductor firms in Taiwan has been supported by a very different type of industrial policy. Taiwan's "ITRI model" combines development initiative and engineering support from the quasi-governmental Industrial Technology Research Institute with commercialization by a mass of small to medium-sized firms in the adjacent Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park. The government provides technological support for both long-term development and specific innovative products, but it has exercised extreme restraint in the allocation of capital and sponsored the development of a thriving venture capital industry.

Some industries, however, have proved resistant to the ITRI model. A prime example is hard disk drives. Hard...

Employment Patterns in the HDD Industry: Where are the Jobs?

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

A 3 year study of global employment patterns has been undertaken for three major sectors of the hard disc drive industry. The investigation shows the shift away from high cost centers to mainly Asian based low cost locations and the movement within Asia to find lower overheads or preferred centers of production.

The Hard Disk Drive Industry in the Philippines

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

The Hard Disk Drive Industry in the Philippines