| dc.description.abstract | Following the development trends of 3C market, the smart terminal devices gradually stress the properties of light and thin, as well as the design of printed circuit board (PCB) emphasizes the efficient per unit area. In the PCB industry, FPCB firms have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the mobile device market. Whether from functional phone to smartphone or from traditional notebook to tablet PC, the volume and value of FPCB used in a device will increase significantly. Design and application of the FPCB will replace part of the traditional PCB market shares. However, the lifecycle of 3C products is short, and the 3C market competition is fierce, so how to remain competitive in the PCB industry is a critical issue for FPCB firms.
This study uses the case study to explore the relevant issues. The adopted case is one of the Taiwan’s FPCB firms - K Company, which has considerable FPCB capacities. The purpose of this study is to analyze why K Company encounters the bottleneck in the FPCB market and how to break the impasse. This study collected data from secondary sources and by interviewing top managers of K Company, and then analyzed the data with tools of industry analysis, including overall environmental analysis, five forces analysis, SWOT analysis, and business strategy. Finally, this study concludes with several suggestions of business strategies for K Company and other FPCB related firms, respectively. We expect that the research results can be a reference for other FPCB firms. The suggestions are as follow:
For K Company, it should first focus on nurturing talents and building a solid management team. Second, it should continually invest in R&D on processes and products. Finally, K Company should consolidate the component integration division of the firm.
For Taiwan’s FPCB firms, in order to control key materials and reduce production costs, the FPCB firms can conduct vertical integration. Second, in order to enhance the competitive advantage, the FPCB firms can develop differentiation by introducing new FPCB related technologies. Finally, the FPCB firms must trace the developing trends of PCB industry continually. | en_US |