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Disconnected ICT Supply Chains

Colley Hwang, DIGITIMES, Taipei

When Chinese president Xi Jinping declared war on COVID-19, I knew the outbreak in China must have been very grave. At the time, many Taiwanese CEOs and managers had returned home from China for the Lunar New Year break. They couuld not go back to work in China after the holiday, and yet these "stranded" CEOs provided us with very good sources of first-hand information about what was actually happening to the supply chains in China during the outbreak. As an analyst with 35 years of experience under my belt, and with strong ties with many industry leaders in Taiwan, I felt a strong commitment to recording what I was witnessing at this turning point.

That was how Disconnected ICT Supply Chains: New Power Plays Unfolding came into being. This new book of mine analyzes the ICT supply chains in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic from a Taiwan-originated Asian perspective that could fill the gaps of understanding from a US-European standpoint. I have done many research projects commissioned by major ICT firms, such as Microsoft, Applied Materials, TSMC, Foxconn and AUO, and I'm well aware of their blind spots.

Taiwan's ICT industries are standing at the crossroads, and they must have their own value propositions in order to survive. The pandemic is a global disaster, and yet it provides Taiwan with an opportunity to show the world its worth.