Computex Taipei:The shifting power of technology from west to east
Known as the “world’s number two computer fair” this year’s Computex Taipei fair, which is held from June 1 – 5 in the Taiwan capital, with its much-hyped forecast to exhibit many innovating and exciting products, is proof that alongside the shift in the balance of power in the global economy from West to East, trends in the power of technology are moving in an analogous motion.
Starting relatively humbly in 1981 as a place where small businesses in Taiwan’s burgeoning computer industry could display their products, the Computex fair gradually escalated with each passing year, eventually emerging as one of the worlds most important IT exhibitions. And this year is no exception with a record breaking total of 1,715 exhibitors showing off the very best of their assets in Taipei this week, arguably a tantamount representation of Asia’s growing power in the world economy.
Among the companies vying for the attention of an eagerly awaiting Asian market by showcasing their sensationalistic technological wares such as tablet designs, electronic reading devices and laptops, which enable users wearing special shutter glasses to play 3D games, are Micro-Star International (MSI), one of Taiwan’s biggest mainboard and graphics card manufacturers, Acer Inc, the Taiwan-based multinational company, Asustek Computer, a multinational company also centered in Taiwan, and China’s Hanwang Technology Company. Many of the fresh and innovative products these companies are showcasing in Taiwan offer long battery life and bright LCD touchscreens encased in sleek and sophisticated skins. Asus have already unveiled the intriguing eee pad and eee tablet.
Although it is not just technology born, bred and strewn on homegrown territory that is going to grace Computex with its presence this year , as many of the powerful technology giants from overseas such as Intel, Microsoft and Nvidia are all attending, boosting the international presence in Taiwan to gain more influence in the Asian market. These international heavyweights are expected to be promoting new power laptops and processors using ultra high-speed WiMax technology. This increased presence of foreign corporations at Computex and the fact that the Taiwan technology has become the “world’s second largest” is yet more evidence of Asia and the East’s increasing power on the worldwide technological stage.
And buyers in Asia are lapping up the technological innovation Asian companies are drilling out, as well as welcoming the excellence and quality of products exported from the West. For example, buyers in Japan and Australian were amongst the first outside the US to snap up an iPad, as the sensational tablet PC was made available in shops on May 28, and in Apple’s flagship store in Tokyo, more than 1,200 people queued outside to purchase the highly sought-after product.
Computex Taipei’s logo incorporates the words “shaping the future” – words which bear significance in the slow shifting of power from the West to the East in both a technological and an economic doctrine.
