Why are all mobo manufacturers from Taiwan?

[Panzerknacker]

I was just wondering, why are ALL mobo manufacturers from Taiwan (without expection)?? Isnt there one single company from another asian country than Taiwan or from the US?

I checked about 10 companies websites, and they were all founded between 1983 and 1990 in Taipei, Taiwan.

[BartonBadBoy]

becaise they just are :D

it's like that new volvo advert in the uk innit

there was something in the air that made all the mobo manufactures decide to build their hq's in taipei.............maybe we should call in mulder and scully or some ****

[David]

The economic conditions there may be suited for such manufacturing, such as the cost of labour, premises and electricty.

[rxc]

Cheap Educated Labor.

[Panzerknacker]

yeah, but why didnt those companies had their roots in silicon valey like AMD, Nvidia and Intel?

[Furious1]

they are in foreign countries because of cheap labor.. there is no way they can get away paying people as low as they for for tech support and manufacturing in the US or maybe canada?

[hafa]

If it were only cheap labor at issue, most manufacturers would be located in mainland China, Vietnam, or Cambodia.

There are a number of factors which combine to create an environment suited for manufacturing in Taiwan. As David mentioned, cost of labour and electricty are factors, as well as political affiliation (allied to US), education level of labour, as rxc mentioned, existing manufacturing support infrastructure, economic stability, transportation infrastructure and corporate tax structure.

The selection of Taiwan as a manufacturing center extends well beyond electronics. Everything from optics to kitchenware is manufactured there. Printed circuit board assembly is ideally suited to Taiwan. It's very labor intensive, requires a significant support infrastructure and is relatively (compared to chip manufacturing, for instance) forgiving in terms of precision.

[deadkenny]

Some of the Taiwanese companies are actually moving manufacturing to mainland China. The key point regarding the silicon valley, is that silicon valley is high expense. That's justifiable in terms of the 'high tech' manufacture of 'chips'. However, as noted above, m/b manufacturing isn't on the same level as chip manufacturing. The various components tend to find the 'lowest cost level' of manufacturing consistent with the required quality. Chips are level 1, m/b down a level and so on to simpler components like CD-ROMs, p/s's, cases etc.

[Gnufsh]

Isn't EPoX german?

[7keys]

Tyan is centered in the Silicon Valley.

[Panzerknacker]

Originally posted by Gnufsh
Isn't EPoX german?

for what I looked up they are from Taiwan as well.


Tyan is centered in the Silicon Valley.

I will check that

Edit: Np, Tyan is from Taiwan as well, worldwide headquarters are there as well.

[xsoulbrothax]

dig around a little bit more - it seems that although Tyan's world HQ is currently in Taiwan, the company itself was founded in Silicon Valley. that's the impression I'm getting right now from google, at least.

[FizzledFiend]

I know what ya mean..my sone once said when he was 8 after opening a toy in his happy meal "Taiwan...Everything is made in Taiwan! I bet if you looked under this car (our Saturn;)) it would say made in Taiwan!"

gave me a chuckle that day and everytime I think about it
My rebutle to him was simple I pointed @ him and said "Made in the USA"

he still don't get it :(

[ChillPhatCat]

Originally posted by FizzledFiend
I know what ya mean..my sone once said when he was 8 after opening a toy in his happy meal "Taiwan...Everything is made in Taiwan! I bet if you looked under this car (our Saturn;)) it would say made in Taiwan!"

gave me a chuckle that day and everytime I think about it
My rebutle to him was simple I pointed @ him and said "Made in the USA"

he still don't get it :(

Some saturns are made in Canada ;)

[Susquehannock]

American Megatrends used to make boards in
Silicon Valley. Back in the "old days" they even
hand built and/or upgraded certain boards. Back in
'96 my Father payed over $1,000 for his "special"
Titan P1 board. :eek:

But alas, cheap labor and looser environmental restrictions
make Taiwan the best place for such manufacturing these days.

It cracks me up when someone say they will only buy
"American" cars. The only thing American is the brand name.
The sheet metal & cast parts are usually made in Canada
or Brazil. And the electronics are made in S.E Asia and/or Mexico.
It has been this way for over a Decade.
About the most "American" part are the seats made by
"Johnson Controls". And they are stedily changing over to
Mexican labor.
Thank you NAFTA! ... :rolleyes: :mad:

There was an article a couple years ago about this subject
called: "Honda, the most American car on the road".
Wish I had saved it.

[fldrice]

Designed in US...Produced in South East Asia=Profitability

[AudiMan]

My Epox 4pca3+ box says "Made in China".

[DragonMasterTHC]

They build them in taiwan because mainboards are only PCBs with a couple of ICs, regulators, caps and plugs, it would not be better if made anywhere else, maybe they would have only better caps and real volt regulators, not clones.

A mainboards with the same chipset than an other one has only some different features and BIOS(That's what makes the difference most of time).

[DonP]

Don't forget the companies can dump toxic crap in the water over there and the goverment will look the other way.

Regulations in the U.S. make it too costly because we care about the environment we live in.

[7keys]

Originally posted by DonP
Don't forget the companies can dump toxic crap in the water over there and the goverment will look the other way.

Regulations in the U.S. make it too costly because we care about the environment we live in.

Actually the Taiwanese dump their industrial waste on a largely untouched island in the war-torn Solomon Islands which is very costly.
Taiwan has a long history of negotiating the dumping of its toxic trash in other countries, including Cambodia, North Korea and even Russia.

[Susquehannock]

Originally posted by DonP
>>>>>>>>>>>

Regulations in the U.S. make it too costly because we care about the environment we live in.

Unfortunately that's not as true as it once was with the environmental rollbacks imposed by the current administration. :(x10

Mercury is an excellent example. Some companies who use
little Mercury will be able to give their unused Mercury emmisions alotments to other companies who use more.
In essence, some areas will have much more pollutants than
others as long as the entire national release remains the same.
This is sure to create environmental "hot spots".

And power plant emmisions are another hotly disputed matter.
Why is the Govt. permitting this? Relenting to the corporate
powers that be IMO.

[captain_sHiFTy]

the american government has alot of economic and political policies and tendencies that really angers me.

back in the late 1800's and early 1900's, canada was still fairly cut off from the united states. when american goods started to become cheaper than canadian made goods, the canadian goverment put huge tarrifs on imported goods to protect local companies.
thats why alot of cars are made in Canada. american motor companies opened up branch plants in Canada. since the workers were canadian, and the cars were made on canadian soil, the goverment allowed it. Not considering that all the profits from sales went down south of the border

but soon they relented under huge pressure from the american goverment and signed a free trade agreement, stating that neither country would tarriff goods coming from each other.

this wanst a very good deal for the canadians, as the influx of low income and immigrant work force in the united states (not to mention the sheer size of the work force) drove prices way down and many canadian companies went under.

and now, when some Canadian industries (such as the soft wood lumber industry) ARE able to undercut the prices of american companies, what happens? the american goverment puts TARRIFFS on OUR products. theyre going against their own **mned agreement.
stuff like that makes me SO mad. I can't beleive so many of you americans just stand by and support your government in things like that. and dont even get me started on the bombing of third world countries. BAH!!!

[/threadjack]

sorry if i offended anybody. that stuff just really makes me angry.
anyways theres a little history on american branchplants in canada :P