Design Engineering or Factory Capability? Building Laptop Contract Manufacturing in Taiwan

This article explores how Taiwanese laptop contract manufacturers established the foundation of their businesses between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. It casts doubt on the traditional view of a linear progression from manufacturing to design capability in Asia. By examining the three earliest laptop projects in Taiwan, however, this author shows that manufacturing was not necessarily simpler than design and how important these producers' design engineering capabilities were to attracting customers and establishing a solid foundation for their future development.