Taiwan ODMs gain cost advantages through setting up plants in China, and their leading role in supplying handset components helps them further improve their cost structure and complete their supply chain.

Handset shipments from Taiwan will reach 281 million in 2008, with 79% of that to be ODM handsets and these shipments will account for 26% of global handset shipments.

Currently, Motorola and Sony Ericsson are most active in cooperating with Taiwan ODMs. Nokia and Samsung are still slow to move in this direction. ODM strategies are also popular in Japan, but shipments are still relatively low.

ABI also sees much less cooperation between China handset vendors and Taiwan ODMs, primarily because of unstable demand and low margins due to intensive competition in the China market.

In China, local vendors lost market share last year, but their margins are now improved compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. The handset market structure in China changed during the past two years.

The changes include erosion of market share by illegally distributed handsets, reforming China distribution channels by vendors and further involvement of operators in sales and supply chains. As a result of these changes, big vendors will garner greater market share, and the proportion of operator-customized handsets will increase quickly, reaching 77% of total handset shipments in China in 2011.

Source:佚名