An Exploratory Study on the Evolution of Vertical Dis-integration Structure of Global Mobile Phone Industry

• Main Authors: Li-Ting Huang, 黃莉婷
• Other Authors: Ji-Ren Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59984144594815230312

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 國際企業學研究所 === 92 === Graduate Institute of International Business National Taiwan University Student：Li-Ting Huang Advisor：Dr. Ji-Ren Lee An Exploratory Stduy on the Evolution of Vertical Dis-integration Structure of Global Mobile Phone Industry ABSTRACT With the growth momentum of PC industry getting slow down, many Taiwanes manufacturers start shifting their focus to mobile phone sector. Most of them look forward to the coming of vertical dis-integration structure occurred in mobile phone industry, within which context ODM model could bring up a new wave of business growth. However, by comparing PC and mobile phone industry, we could find that there are substantial structure differences in between, such as the degree of product standardization and product positions. Therefore, whether and when the existing vertical intergrated structure will change becomes an interesting issue to explore. The present research attempts to evaluate this issue from various theoretical angles, including transaction cost economics, resource-based view, strategic outsourcing, and industry co-evolution framework, with a hope of providing useful suggestions to ODM firms. The global mobile phone industry has three distinctive characteristics: 1). High degree of vertical integration; 2). Short product life cycle; 3). Change of technology generation will significantly affect the competition of mobile phone industry. Given the fact that electric wave pertains to public property, government telecommunication policy and intervention will have a great influence on the evolurtitonary development of mobile phone industry. By reviewing major players’ preivous outsourcing decision, we found that smoothing production fluctuation and diversifying operaional risk, hence achieving strategic flexibility become a crtitical consideration for these OEMers to outsource manufacturing services. We also found that: 1). External environment has more influences on mobile industrial evolution than on the change of industrial structure: 2). While facing the music, OEMs will reallocate their resources to abandon what they are not good at and look for strategic flexibility: 3). The most important factor changing the industrial structure is the needs for strategic flexibility; 4). Technology upgrading, transaction cost diminishing, and standard products launch all accelerate the change of industrial structure. Eventually, we suggest subcontractors could adopt EMS model in mobile industry until market standard emerge and adopt the ODM model in the future.