Overview
The average annual growth rate of the information industry gross product was 32.1% in China in past 10 years corresponding rate 14.2% of the total industry product in the corresponding periods. The value-added from information industry was 4.1% of GDP in China in 2001. The production value from IT product manufacturing industry reached $163billion, 27% higher than the corresponding figure in 2000. The average annual growth rate of the income of communication industry was 28.8% which is 3.2 times that of GDP growth. Total income of communication reached $42.3billion, 24.8% up from 1999, and 11.5% higher than the corresponding rate of industry value-added & 8.0% higher than the corresponding GDP.11
IT export reached $38.59 billion, up 33.3%. IT import reached $28.56 billion, up 26.0%. Total income of the telecommunication industry reached $37.24billion in the 1st 7 months of 2002, 28.69% up compared to the same period in 2001.
Total trade (exports + imports) of computer products from mainland China, Jan-July 2001 (Source: Mainland China Customs
PC
China churned out computer products worth $23.9 billion in 2001, up 24 percent from 2000, according to the Center for China Information Development (CCID). Exports, mainly to Hong Kong and the United States, amounted to nearly $20 billion. Mainland Chinese companies sold about 7.5 million PCs, up 20 percent from 2000; 1.03 million scanners, up 23 percent; six million PDAs, up 17.9 percent; and 10 million monitors, an increase of 25 percent. Notebook PCs and PC servers registered large gains in 2000. However, 2001 saw very little change in desktop PC performance, and as a result, sales were slow. Figures for 2002 will depend on the economic climate.
LCD
Sales of CRT monitors totaled 10 million units in 2001, up 25 percent from 2000. As 17-inch flat monitors grew more popular and prices plunged, LCDs started winning more orders. Now, LCDs look ready to really start replacing CRTs. Increased production has lowered the price and expanded the market for LCD monitors.
Suzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Xiamen are home to top LCD monitor exporters Suzhou Acer Peripherals, Shenzhen Great Wall Computer Co. Ltd, Dongguan EMC and Xiamen Overseas Electronics Co. Ltd (XOCECO). Great Wall's $88.9-million base in Shenzhen produces 3.5 million LCDs annually.
Functional PC servers
PC server production totaled 150,000 units in 2001, up 20 percent from 2000. Of the total, 48 percent were models designed for corporate, school, government, research and other functional applications. Small and reasonably priced, they come with the prescribed software.
Mobile phone, PDA combos to proliferate
PDAs providing mobile phone functions experience massive growth in 2002. In addition to greater PDA, phone convergence, many makers will turn to producing PDA accessories such as keyboards, connectors and CF cards.
Inkjets dominate printer production
Mainland China produced four million printers in 2001, up 24 percent from 2000, according to CCID. Inkjet printers under $120 shared 60 percent of the total.
Software
To date, China's software market has been encumbered by government regulations, devastated by piracy, and extremely fragmented. In addition, software has been overshadowed by an emphasis on hardware, which has accounted for nearly 90% of China's $11 billion in IT spending in 2000. Even government offices and state-owned enterprises, the principal purchasers of software, have historically resorted to pirated versions.
Major domestic players in production
Legend Group
http://www.legend-holdings.com/
Founder
http://www.founderpku.com/site/index.htm
Great Wall
http://www.greatwall.com.cn/eng/
Star
http://www.start.com.cn/english/