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World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

bloomberg.com

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Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#11

Post by walrus01 »

If you know the bicycle industry, what's interesting is that Giant started out as a Taiwanese based manufacturer, and is probably going to go back there for some things. And to other places like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia.

They are actually not very much different from the top ten largest Taiwanese motherboard makers. All the motherboards used to be made in Taiwan (Hsin-Chu City, etc). For lower labor costs and other things they moved a lot of production to mainland China and kept the design/R&D/HQ in Taiwan. Now some things are going to go back the other way.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#12

Post by tastygreenapple »

petschge wrote: post #10
jimmaswell wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think allies are going to be permanently "alienated" by one president's remarks.

The one idiot that the rest of the world ignored was Georg W. Bush. By electing a second, worse idiot the US has demonstrated to the world that they are no longer a viable long term partner.

[flagged]

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#13

Post by microcolonel »

avocado4 wrote: post #3

Perhaps if manufacturers will move out of PRC into nearby countries it won't have a large effect on prices for consumers and businesses in the US, but at the same time will force China to make structural changes in adherence with the rules of global trade and human rights. Too bad Trump has alienated traditional US allies - if major economies teamed up in this effort it would have been a much easier goal.

The "traditional US allies" have been the least help in this. The U.S. government hasn't done enough to support Taiwan in my opinion, but U.S. relations with India, Viet nam, Korea, etc. are exceptionally good. Among them surely is a replacement for some of the scale and industrial power the PRC is unwilling to provide on reasonable terms.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#14

Post by josho »

nextos wrote: post #8

I don't immediately discard an item because it's made in China, as I know of some high quality items made there. Most Apple products, some Xiaomi products or Meermin/Feit shoes. However, I tend to be very skeptical about its quality. Moving manufacturing to China is most often done to reduce cost. The only industry where it's not done due to cost, but supply chain issues, is electronics. And with cost reduction comes…

> Sadly, it's all about price.

It’s about price because consumers can’t measure by anything else.

Eg. I can’t tell which of two products is manufactured to higher standards, nor which one isn’t infested with formaldehyde.

Until consumers are able to determine those other factors then yes sadly it is all about price (and marketing).

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#15

Post by H1Supreme »

nextos wrote: post #8

I don't immediately discard an item because it's made in China, as I know of some high quality items made there. Most Apple products, some Xiaomi products or Meermin/Feit shoes. However, I tend to be very skeptical about its quality. Moving manufacturing to China is most often done to reduce cost. The only industry where it's not done due to cost, but supply chain issues, is electronics. And with cost reduction comes…

> Meermin/Feit shoes

There's another company out of the US called Grant Stone who makes shoes in China. They are some of the best constructed leather shoes I've ever seen. Lots of people compare them to Aldens, which are double the price.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#16

Post by afterburner »

nafizh wrote: post #5
nkozyra wrote: post #2

Amazing to see an anecdote like this trotted out as newsworthy. There are three total data points and two of them are incredibly vague. Honestly, this feels a bit like propaganda.

The title clearly says 'World's top bicycle maker says'. It's an opinion.

It's not opinion, it's an announcement that they're moving their manufacturing to Taiwan.

"Giant Manufacturing is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory"

"Giant" is the brand.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#17

Post by nextos »

josho wrote: post #14
nextos wrote: post #8

I don't immediately discard an item because it's made in China, as I know of some high quality items made there. Most Apple products, some Xiaomi products or Meermin/Feit shoes. However, I tend to be very skeptical about its quality. Moving manufacturing to China is most often done to reduce cost. The only industry where it's not done due to cost, but supply chain issues, is electronics. And with cost reduction comes…

> Sadly, it's all about price. It’s about price because consumers can’t measure by anything else. Eg. I can’t tell which of two products is manufactured to higher standards, nor which one isn’t infested with formaldehyde. Until consumers are able to determine those other factors then yes sadly it is all about price (and marketing).

That's not entirely true. In the EU, there are lots of tags that guarantee product safety. CE marks (for electronics), OEKO-TEX (safe textiles), GOTS (organic textiles), etc. The US has some equivalent ones I am less familiar with. In fact, both OEKO-TEX and GOTS are global standards.

Some Xiaomi products have not been imported to EU because they failed to obtain CE marks. And you'd never encounter a product that smells formaldehyde with an OEKO-TEX label.

But I agree the information is quite asymmetric. As a customer, I want to know a lot more about how products are made. And I want to be able to repair them and source replacement parts.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#18

Post by davidw »

josho wrote: post #14
nextos wrote: post #8

I don't immediately discard an item because it's made in China, as I know of some high quality items made there. Most Apple products, some Xiaomi products or Meermin/Feit shoes. However, I tend to be very skeptical about its quality. Moving manufacturing to China is most often done to reduce cost. The only industry where it's not done due to cost, but supply chain issues, is electronics. And with cost reduction comes…

> Sadly, it's all about price. It’s about price because consumers can’t measure by anything else. Eg. I can’t tell which of two products is manufactured to higher standards, nor which one isn’t infested with formaldehyde. Until consumers are able to determine those other factors then yes sadly it is all about price (and marketing).

On that same subject - it was interesting to me how much better fresh produce was in Italy. In no small part I think this is due to the fact that people have a pretty good ability to distinguish the quality of a lot of traditional foods there.

In the stores, the produce isn't usually as neat and tidy and pretty as in the US - you might even find a few bad bits and pieces, but by and large, it tastes really good.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#19

Post by comicjk »

tastygreenapple wrote: post #12
petschge wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one idiot that the rest of the world ignored was Georg W. Bush. By electing a second, worse idiot the US has demonstrated to the world that they are no longer a viable long term partner.

[flagged]

If this was the reason you voted for Trump, I have some bad news about the trajectory of military spending.

Re: World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

#20

Post by microcolonel »

nafizh wrote: post #5
nkozyra wrote: post #2

Amazing to see an anecdote like this trotted out as newsworthy. There are three total data points and two of them are incredibly vague. Honestly, this feels a bit like propaganda.

The title clearly says 'World's top bicycle maker says'. It's an opinion.

Yeah, not sure about how they're measuring. By market cap, Shimano is about four and a half times larger. P/E is very close between the two; Giant's PY return is about 77 times better than Shimano's.
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