Abstract
TFT-LCD industry, the second largest semi-conductor industry in Taiwan, is included in the well known Two-Trillion, Twin-Star Project. Now Taiwan is the largest country in terms of global large-sized TFT-LCD output. Facing the intensive competition and the decreased gross margin, some of the top five Taiwan TFT-LCD OEMs tended to develop their own brands in order to be positioned uniquely. Even though most of the past researches focused on OBMs’ KSFs (key successful factors) and potential conflict between OBMs and OEMs, few is focused on diversified branding strategies of OBM, this research concentrates on the OBM strategy of Taiwan high tech industry, especially of TFT-LCD industry. In order to explore such an undefined area of research on OBM strategy for Taiwanese high tech industry, this study applies the exploratory methodology of multiple cases study on five TFT-LCD companies. It is expected that the valuable information may be collected and analyzed through in-depth interviews and cross case validation. The research purposes of this study are as follows. First, identify the KSFs for Taiwan TFT-LCD companies to choose their own branding strategies in the market. Second, identify the key successful factor for different branding strategies. Third, provide suggestions to Taiwan OEMs/ODMs as to whether or not it is better off to develop their own brands and how to successfully position their own brands in the market. The contributions on academic research and business applications will be discussed in the end.