IC通路業是介於IC製造廠及產品生產廠商中間,由於台灣電子產業的蓬勃發展,產銷分工形式明顯,位居中游的通路商,營運角色愈顯得重要,下游資訊、通訊、消費性電子等3C產品製造廠商為降低庫存風險及減輕自行製造成本,選擇向交貨速度快、具價格競爭力等條件的通路商購料;再加上IC通路業進入門檻不高,因此造就了台灣IC通路產業百家爭鳴,中小廠商林立。 IC通路商在IC製造廠及產品生產廠商之間,賺的是通路上的『管理財』及『服務財』;但近年來,電子產品製造業者毛利率急遽下降,特別是台灣以代工見長如筆記型電腦代工廠由早期15%的毛利率劇降至目前的『保五』、『保六』(5%至6%毛利率),IC通路商在整個價值鍊(Value Chain)上不可能獨享高毛利,因此獲利空間不斷被壓縮,各個通路商也因此各自尋求不同的成長策略。 大型通路商以水平擴張為主要策略,以多產品線、提供一次購足的便利、產品搭售、技術服務及折扣來吸引客戶。大型通路商擴張策略擠壓到中小型通路商的生存空間,也因此不斷有中小型通路商被大型廠商合併。 本研究藉由Michael Porter的五力分析及安索夫Ansoff 產品及暨市場擴張矩陣等探討中小型通路商所面臨的競爭態勢。也實際的以一家中小型通路商為例,深入剖析一個中小型通路商所處的外在環境及其轉型策略的建構過程。最後本研究並整理個案公司轉型前的考量因素及轉型後產生的效益以期對面臨瓶頸的中小型通路商提供有用的參考資料及價值的建議方案。
The IC trading industry is situated between the IC manufacturers and the electronic manufacturers. With the vigorous development in Taiwan's electronic industry and the market specialization, the role of IC trading companies in supply chain becomes more important. In order to reduce the inventory risk and the manufacturing cost, the computers, communications and consumer electronics manufacturers purchase parts from distributors for their quick delivery and attractive price. However, the low barrier to entry/exit the business has created hundreds of IC distributors in Taiwan, making the business more competitive and diversified. As a broker between the IC manufacturers and the electronic manufacturers, distributors gains through the 'management ' and 'service' they provided. In recent years, the gross profit margin of electronic products has dropped significantly. In particular, since the electronic manufacturers in Taiwan are mainly OEMs, their margin ratio now drops from 15% in the early days to nearly 5% or 6% or even lower. Likewise, IC trading companies, as a member of the Value Chain, is impossible to gain high profit as before, and thus must seek some strategies to survive in the fierce environment and to maintain their competitiveness. Large-scale IC trading companies take the horizontal expansion as the main strategy, including the multi-product line, one-stop-shopping, tying arrangement, technical support service and discount or rebate. The expansion strategy of large-scale IC trading companies poses some threats on the survival of the middle- and small-scale IC trading companies, possibly forcing them to be merged or acquired. This research applies Porter's ‘five forces analysis’ and the Ansoff Product-Market Growth Matrix to discuss the competition situations of middle- and small-scale IC trading companies. By a case study on the transformation process of a small-to-middle scale IC trading company, this research analyzes its transformation strategy and external environmental factors, and provides some useful suggestions as how a middle- and small-scale IC company should transform itself to maintain competitiveness in the industry.