Compaq Corp, the world’s third-largest computer maker, says it will buy $8.5bn-worth of computers and components from Taiwan next year, a big jump from the $7.1bn it will have spent this year. The orders will make Compaq the biggest foreign buyer of Taiwan electronics goods, and represent about 25% of Compaq’s global purchasing, according to Steve Martson, Compaq’s global chief procurement officer. After Taiwan, the US is Compaq’s second-biggest procurement market, making up about 20% with Japan accounting for 10% to 15%.
The increase, combined with a new project to develop a more formal, far-reaching internet-based system for working with Taiwan suppliers, suggests Compaq wasn’t deterred by September’s earthquake, said the company’s greater China president Philip Yu. Compaq warned retailers there might be delays in shipping some products in October and November because of the quake but the problems have not really happened and there were no significant delays said Yu.
Compaq buys computers, monitors, keyboards, motherboards and other components in Taiwan with its major suppliers including Inventec, Arima Computer, Mitac International, First International Computer, Giga-Byte Technology, Lite-On Group companies, and Foxconn. Last October, Inventec chairman Yeh Kuo-yi told local reporters his company had won a contract to supply Compaq with 100,000 notebook computers.
