從企業經營策略構面探討HTC品牌發展過程之挑戰

Abstract

台灣高科技產業究竟能否建立長期具有國際品牌價值的自創品牌？或受限於母國市場（home market）規模不足，必須專注為國際品廠大廠專業代工？歷經廿三十年Wintel（微軟+英特爾）時期為國際大廠進行個人電腦、筆記型電腦、手機等產業專業代工，台灣高科技業者發展出上中下游完整的產業鏈，也醞釀出因為長期代工，利潤微薄，唯有自創品牌，方能保有利潤，累積創新與智慧財產專利，讓企業永續經營。原本專為Wintel體系代工的宏達電，因早期切入新興智慧型手持裝置產業的藍海市場，累積產品創新研發的技術，奠定日後自創HTC品牌的基礎。然而，隨著智慧型手持裝置產業大爆發，吸引全球一線品牌大廠競食，天生缺乏母國市場及品牌大廠垂直整合資源的宏達電，其企業經營與自創品牌的決策，正面臨嚴峻的挑戰。 本論文主旨在以宏達電從創新研發智慧型手機產業崛起，成功創立品牌自立門戶，在面臨國際一線大廠，挾帶國際知名品牌優勢、上下游產業鏈整合雄厚資源，或坐擁龐大的手機內需市場等結構性因素前後夾擊下，能否持續台灣自創品牌這條路，在全球倍速成長的智慧型手機產業裡，爭取一席生存之地。 論文研究運用宏碁創辦人施振榮先生倡導的「微笑曲線」，說明台廠爭取自創品牌背後主要的思維，並利用五力分析和價值鏈，解析宏達電採取自創品牌的企業經營策略，所面臨與國際大廠在智財權與產品創新的嚴酷挑戰，以及來自中國等新興市場趁勢崛起的手機大廠的潛在威脅，廠商對上下游垂直鏈結，所產生的全球市佔率的消長；同時利用產業生命週期的分析，來探討宏達電當前所採用的企業經營策略適用性;最後，再以宏達電為個案分析，以該企業在發展自創品牌所面臨的挑戰，解讀台灣高科技產業是否具有自創品牌的結構性元素，尋找台廠想擺脫專業代工宿命，必先具備的基礎條件。 本研究嘗試利用不同的分析角度，來探討宏達電採取HTC這個自創品牌的企業經營策略，究竟有無其必要性或歷史的必然性，專注代工儘管是條穩當的經營策略，但宏達電嚐試進行自創品牌之路，不論未來成功與否，都將是台灣高科技產業的最佳借鏡。

Is high-technology industry in Taiwan able to establish a long-term own branding and manufacturing with international branding value? Or restricted by the home market’s insufficient scale, must it focus on the international professional OEM? After twenty or thirty years Wintel (Microsoft + Intel) period to do OEM on personal computers, notebook computers, mobile phones, and other industries, the high-technology industry in Taiwan has developed the complete industrial chain upstream and downstream. It also cumulates innovation and intellectual property patent to make business operate sustainably. Because of the long-term OEM with low profits, own-branding is the only way to maintain profits. Originally, HTC Corporation is designed for OEM Wintel system, because it cuts into emerging smart handheld device industry in the blue ocean market at an early stage, it accumulates products’ innovation and research technology and establishes the foundation for the future HTC brand. However, with the explosion of smart handheld device industry which attracts the cannibalization among global top brand manufacturers, HTC Corporation is naturally lack of home market and vertically integrated resource of brand manufacturers with its own branding and business strategies. It indeed faces the severe challenges. The subject of the paper aims at discussing whether HTC Corporation is able to continue developing Taiwan’s own branding and manufacturing. HTC Corporation is abruptly rising from the innovative research and development in the smartphone industry, successfully creating the brand and living on its own. When it faces the international top manufacturers which take the advantages of internationally renowned brand, and integrate the upstream and downstream chain industries’ abundant resources, or have the structural factors such as the huge domestic mobile phone market, how to fight a seat to survive in the excessively competitive global smartphone industry is a practical challenge. The paper research uses 'smile curve' proposed by Acer founder Stan Shih, indicating the main logical thinking behind that Taiwan factories fight for OBM, and using five forces analysis and value chain to clarify the corporate business strategy that HTC Corporation takes to make OBM and face the harsh challenges of intellectual property rights and product innovation competing with international companies, as well as the potential threats from China and other emerging markets’ mobile phone manufacturers taking advantage to rise. The manufacturers of upstream and downstream vertical chain come the result of the growth and decline of the global market share; while using industry life-cycle analysis to investigate the applicability of the corporate business strategy that HTC Corporation currently applied. Finally, taking HTC Corporation as case study, based on the challenges it faces when developing OBM, to interpret whether the high-technology industry in Taiwan equips the structural elements of OBM and the basic conditions of getting rid of the fate to do OEM. This study attempts using different analytical viewpoints to investigate the business strategies whether it is necessary or because of the inevitability of the history that HTC Corporation takes HTC as its OBM. Even though OEM is a reliable business strategy, the way HTC Corporation takes a chance to build OBM, regardless of the future success, will set a good example for the high-technology industry in Taiwan.