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Eight Companies Win Taiwan Excellence Gold Awards 2009
[April 17, 2009]

Eight Companies Win Taiwan Excellence Gold Awards 2009


TAIPEI, Taiwan --(Business Wire)-- The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) today announced the eight winners of the prestigious Taiwan Excellence Gold Awards at a gala ceremony in Taipei, hosted by The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) and attended by Taiwan industry leaders.



The 17th annual awards honor Taiwan products that embody "innovalue", or in other words, value that is created from innovation. A panel of international judges with expertise in the four key categories of evaluation for the awards — R&D, design, quality and marketing — selected the winners.

This year, the winners of the Gold Award are more diverse and include companies making products such as hand tools, mobile phones, household appliances, consumer electronics, industrial automation equipment, computers, flat-panel displays and bicycles. Republic of China (Taiwan) President Ma Ying-jeou presented the Gold Awards to the eight winning companies.


"This time, I've seen innovalue becoming a system for Taiwan companies," said Sejiro Oshimura, one of the judges who is also a professor at Mejiro University in Japan. "To make a good product, the entire process is important." ASUSTeK Computer Inc., the company that launched the world's first netbook little more than a year ago, performed well in all categories of the evaluation, Oshimura said. ASUSTeK, which markets its products under the ASUS brand, has set clear targets for strategic products and has sustained its effort to achieve these goals, he said. The ASUS' Eee PC netbook is a product that took many companies in the notebook computer industry by surprise, according to Oshimura.

The Touch Diamond mobile phone from High Tech Computer (HTC) Corp. is another Gold Award winner that has won favor with consumers around the world and is an example of how Taiwan companies are becoming more sophisticated in terms of product design, according to C.K. Lee, a judge who is also deputy chairman of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a national-level R&D organization that is conducting applied research in industrial technology.

HTC combined the talent of its design teams around the globe to create the Touch Diamond, Lee said. The ability to combine design concepts from various parts of the world has also been important for other Taiwan products such as bicycles, Lee added.

Many of the judges on the awards panel commented that there is still room for Taiwan's young brands such as ASUS and HTC to improve marketing innovalue.

"Taiwan has always been strong in addressing foreign markets," said Harm Hogenbirk, a design judge who is with pilotfish, an industrial design and product development studio specialized in electronic products. "What I like is that Taiwan is now addressing universal values. Branding Taiwan is what it is all about." To promote Taiwan's industry, the government has made the development of branding the key task for raising the competitiveness of Taiwan's economy. There are two ultimate goals of the Branding Taiwan program. The first is integrating resources to help establish brands and create a favorable environment for development. The second is to help Taiwan enterprises develop brands and increase their value.

"People around the world recognize these brands now," said Luke Peters, a judge who is also deputy editor of T3 The Gadget Magazine. "They also recognize that these are Taiwan brands. The range of products we've seen this year has spread." Giant Manufacturing Co., the world's largest bicycle maker, won a Gold Award for its City Speed bike. With the City Speed, Giant designers and engineers aimed to create a bike that features both speed and simplicity. Its comfortable, upright position, streamlined curves and modern touches including integrated head- and taillights are styled for urban dwellers.

Optoma Corporation, a leading global projector brand, won a Gold Award for its Pico PK101 pocket projector. The product also won an Innovations Design and Engineering award from the organizers of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the U.S.

The pocket-sized PK101 opens up a wide range of new applications for businesspeople and personal users. The PK101 connects to portable media players, mobile phones and other devices to display presentations, photos, videos and websites on the go and anywhere with just a few simple connections.

The projector connects with mobile phones, digital media players, digital cameras, electronic games and other multimedia devices to display still images and motion video on screens measuring up to 66 inches wide.

Even household appliances won the Gold Award this year. Tatung Co. captured gold with its TAC-11A rice cooker, a product that incorporates environmental protection concepts as part of its design.

Taiwan companies are among the world's innovators who are offering products that save energy, reduce pollution and help keep people fit. Taiwan has some of the world's largest companies making green products such as bicycles, energy saving lights and solar cells to name a few. The Taiwan government is supporting this effort as part of its goal of sustainable development for businesses.

Taiwan Excellence Gold Award Winners Product   Model Number   Company Eee PC   S101   ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

City Speed   City Speed   Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Touch Diamond   HTC Touch Diamond P3700/P3702   High Tech Computer Corp.

Energy Conservation Driving Module   R1   Hiwin Technologies Corp.

Pico Pocket Projector   PK101   Optoma Corp.

WorldCard   WCU01A   Penpower Technology Ltd.

Ratcheting Adjustable Wrench   RA Series   Proxene Tools Co., Ltd.

Rice Cooker   TAC-11A   Tatung Co.

    Taiwan Excellence Silver Award Winners Product   Model Number   Company PocketCinema   V10   AIPTEK International Inc.

3.5G Super Performance PDA Phone   P552w   ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Bamboo Series Notebook   Bamboo U2   ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Short-Throw Gaming Projector   MP512 ST   BenQ Corp.

World's Thinnest 19-inch Wide Panel   M190Z3   Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp.

Taiwan Blue Magpie Collection   FZ01752~FZ01758, FZ01761   Franz Collection Inc.

TCR Advanced SL   TCR Advanced SL   Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Linear Motor Air Bearing Platform   LMAP-250 / LMAP-450 / LMAP-650   Hiwin Mikrosystem Corp.

Treadmill   T7xe   Johnson Health Tech. Co., Ltd.

Functional Trainer   G3-MSFT 400   Johnson Health Tech. Co., Ltd.

Vertical Machining Center   CV-6   Kao Fong Machinery Co., Ltd.

Jockey G5 125/150   SR25AA/SR25AD/SR30AC   Kwang Yang Industry Co., Ltd.

Solargizer leading desktop combo for green protection   SlimStar 820V   KYE Systems Corp.(Genius) Full suspension MTB - One Five O   One-Five-O 3800-D / 880-D   Merida Industry Co., Ltd.

Elixir DDR3 SODIMM series   M2S1G64CBH8A4P-BE / M2S2G64CB8HA4N-BE / M2S1G64CBH8A4P-CG / M2S2G64CB8HA4N-CG   Nanya Technology Corporation Pacific IF   Mode   Pacific Cycles, Inc.

Refrigerator   NR-D562HV-S / -B   Panasonic Taiwan Co., Ltd.

All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)   Target 500   Taiwan Golden Bee Co., Ltd.

Fine Arts Counter Top Gas Hobs   G-2110S, G-2110G, G-2120S, G-2120G   Taiwan Sakura Corporation Fine Arts Chimney Range Hood   VR-3300   Taiwan Sakura Corp.

Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless-N Router with VPN   NBG-463AN   ZyXEL Communications Corp.

WiMAX Indoor Femto Base Station   MAX-1200   ZyXEL Communications Corp.

    Aiptek International Inc.

http://www.aiptek.com.tw/   ASUSTek Computer Inc.

http://www.asus.com/   BenQ Corp.

http://benq.com/   Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp.

http://www.cmo.com.tw/opencms/cmo/index.html?__locale=en   Franz Collection Inc.

http://www.franzcollection.com.tw/   Giant Manufacturing Co.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/   High Tech Computer Corp.

http://www.htc.com/tw/   Hiwin Technologies Corp.

http://www.hiwin.com/   Johnson Health Tech. Co.

http://www.johnsonfitness.com/   Kwang Yang Industry Co.

http://www.kymco.com/   KYE Systems Corp.

http://www.kyecom.com/   Merida Industry Co.

http://www.merida.tw/   Nanya Technology Corp.

http://www.nanya.com/index.aspx   Optoma Corp.

http://www.optoma.com/   Pacific Cycles, Inc.

http://www.pacific-cycles.com/   Panasonic Taiwan Co.

http://panasonic.com.tw/Home/   Taiwan Golden Bee Co.

http://www.tgb.com.tw/   Taiwan Sakura Corp.

http://www.sakura.com.tw/   Penpower Technology Ltd.

http://www.penpower.net/index_tc.html   Proxene Tools Co.

http://www.proxene.com.tw/   Tatung Co.

http://www.tatung.com.tw/   ZyXEL Communications Corp.

http://www.zyxel.com/   Please visit www.taiwantrade.org.tw or www.brandingtaiwan.org for more information.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in 1970 to promote Taiwan's foreign trade and competitiveness in world markets. Over the past 38 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the development of the Taiwan economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government and commercial associations and is viewed by all as the business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community.

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