Stan Shih Led Acer’s March To A Top Five Global PC Brand. What is he doing now;

Stan Shih entered the working world in the 1960s, when Taiwan was best known in international business as an exporter of sugar, rice and pineapples. His career reached a turning point in 1976 as the co-founder of Multitech, which capitalized on the global demand for cheap run-of-the-mill IBM computing components that gave Taiwan its first technological name: the kingdom of clones. Shih and his partners defied local convention in 1987 when Multitech changed its name to Acer and faced larger global rivals selling its own brand of PCs.

The switch worked. Through the ups and downs nearly 50 years later, Acer still ranks as one of the top 10 PC brands in the world, a feat first seen in the 1990s. And just as decades ago, Shih – still executive director and chairman emeritus of Acer at age 79 – aims to think outside the box.

In a recent interview with Forbes at his home in Taipei, Shih talked about exploring the interface between new technology and culture, an area he referred to as “Oriental divestment.” He came up with the spelling by changing the ‘c’ in culture to the ‘s’ for silicon. “The whole culture is related to technology, silicon technology is currently its focus, and Taiwan is ahead of the world in the field of silicon technology,” Shih said, referring to his current position in advanced chip manufacturing for companies such as Nvidia and Intel.

As part of the push, Shih supports more than a dozen cultural organizations that are more related to artists than other geeks. Among them, Shih-backed CTAmbi’s ‘Ambi Space’ at the glitzy Taipei 101 – the city’s tallest tower at 101 stories – showcases art-electronic fusion imagery. Other seemingly unlikely groups now led by the computer industry: the Cloud Gate Culture and Arts Foundation – a contemporary dance community, as well as the One Song Orchestra Fun Club, which organizes performances of traditional Taiwanese music in a European orchestral style.

Reflecting on Acer’s influence over the years, Shih talked about former colleagues who made their mark in government as well as technology. “It’s a good thing,” he said of their career moves. Rather than seeing the executive exodus as a loss, Shih sees Acer’s talent cultivation as a benefit to Taiwan and an extension of his life as a social entrepreneur. Among the one-time Acer executives who will be moving on: Lora Ho, senior vice president at global chip heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), TH Tung, president of conventional electronics maker Pegatron, Simon Lin, president of Acer spinoff Wistron, Simon Chang, currently mayor of Taoyuan city in northern Taiwan and Taiwan’s Cabinet Minister without portfolio John Deng.

“If we’re talking about making money, we’re not good as TSMC,” Shih said. He knows this chip maker well as a former board member there. “But if we’re talking about contributing and influencing the high-tech industry, I think we’ve played a very important role.”

Colley Hwang, a longtime expert on Taiwan’s IT industry and publisher of the Taipei-based tech daily Digitimes, agrees. “Without the strong PC industry led by Acer, there would not have been the subsequent boom in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry,” says Hwang. “Stan Shih is the bravest entrepreneurial pioneer in Taiwan, daring to launch a brand. Compared to the long-standing culture and contract manufacturing environment in Taiwan, his courage to keep trying and face challenges is especially valuable.”

From humble beginnings after World War II, Taiwan’s economy today ranks as the 22nd largest in the world^n.d bigger; Technology companies hold the largest share of the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s market capitalization. Local businesses ranked on the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s top listed companies include Hon Hai Precision — Apple’s major supplier led by billionaire Terry Gou, as well as TSMC, whose clients include Apple and Intel .

Shih’s start in business came as a research engineer at Unitron Industry Corp., “Taiwan’s first company with an R&D department,” he noted in a speech in 1989. Before Multitech, he also co-founded Qualitron Industrial Corp., the development of Taiwan’s first electronic calculator and the world’s first pen watch, Shih at the same address.

In addition to bold ambition, Acer in the 1990s expanded in part through overseas acquisitions, such as Texas Instruments’ laptop business and the PC business of home computer maker Commodore International. Shih won praise as Taiwan’s only world-leading PC brand and wrote business titles such as “Me Too Is Not My Style” in 1996 about Acer’s business approach. It was later associated with a “new wangdao” philosophy of altruism that dates back to ancient China. Companies “must create value for the organization and society not only in visible value, but also in invisible value such as organizational culture, training talent, branding, research and development,” according to one website managed by a Shih foundation. He spoke to Forbes in front of a mini-Buddhist pilgrimage in his home and has also been an advisor to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, one of the island’s largest non-profit groups.

However, this culture has not led to sustained business success. Shih stepped down as chairman of Acer in 2004, only to return for about 200 days to see the company struggle financially in 2013. “In high tech, maybe every 10 years, you have to do some transformation and reengineering,” he said. . . “It’s not easy.”

“Taiwan is good at B2B, but we are trying to discover the B2C brand,” Shih noted. He remains Acer’s chairman emeritus and sits on a company board that also includes his son Maverick Shih, who holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. Jason Chen, 62, a former Intel and TSMC executive, took over as CEO in 2014 after a restructuring led by Shih and has been chairman and CEO since 2017.

It was too late. Acer currently employs more than 7,800 people worldwide – less than half in Taiwan. Ranked No. 145 on the 2023 Forbes World’s Best Employers list and No. 259 on the 2023 Forbes World’s Best Companies for Women list. Acer was the world’s No. 5 PC brand in the fourth quarter of 2023 with a 12% year-over-year increase in shipments — the fastest among this top group, according to research firm Canalys. For the quarter, Acer’s 6% market share was behind only Lenovo (24.7%), HP (20.9%), Dell (15.2%) and Apple (10.1%) . Helped in part by sales of Predator gaming PCs, Acer shares have gained nearly 90% over the past year. closed 2023 on one of their best closes in more than a decade. Shih and his family own 6 percent of the company, which has a market value of NT$145 billion, or about $4.5 billion.

Acer’s one-year performance, good as it was, was eclipsed by even Acer’s most powerful spinoff. Led by former Acer chairman Simon Lin, shares of server maker Wistron have soared more than 300% on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the past year. Its market value of NT$362 billion today is more than double that of Acer. Another early spinoff, panel maker AUO, has a market capitalization of NT$139 billion. Underscoring Acer and Shih’s continued reach, Acer itself currently controls 11 listed technology-related companies in Taiwan, including Acer Gadget, Acer Gaming, Weblink International Inc., Acer Cyber ​​​​Security Inc., Acer E-Enabling Service Business, Aopen Inc., Acer Medical Inc., Highpoint Service Network, Protrade Applied Materials and Acer Synergy Manpower Group.

Beyond contributing to Acer’s own leadership, Shih said a key personal mission today is to connect technology and culture. The holder of undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering has been on the board of the Cloud Gate Foundation since 2000 and its president since 2018. He is the main supporter of the dance troupe’s Wanderer Project, which provides young adventurers with opportunities to travel throughout the world and gain experiences that will help them direct their lives and careers.

“Shih is an avid supporter of the arts and has led the board at Cloud Gate with leadership and insights from a global perspective that have proven vital to the foundation,” says Jessie Jen, Cloud Gate’s assistant executive director. In terms of music, Shih has promoted the performance of Taiwanese folk songs performed in a European-style orchestra through his support of the “One Song Orchestra”. He hopes the sound will be as popular as Vienna orchestras in Taiwan in 20 years. To help out, the Orchestra has hired the conductor of the Austrian Recreation Orchestra, Mei-Ann Chen, to lead this year’s New Year’s Eve event entitled ‘Sounds of Taiwan’.

“Stan wholeheartedly promotes the values ​​of Taiwan’s local culture, including supporting cultural groups,” Digitimes’ Hwang said. “He takes on further roles as an advocate for over a dozen cultural institutions, demonstrating a high ambition to integrate cultural and technology industries. This man’s selfless dedication to Taiwan’s economy and culture serves as an exemplary role model for the Taiwanese people.”

If that’s not enough, Shih is involved in projects to promote low-emission vessels and transport logistics. He is also a board member of the Taiwan Public Television Foundation and the China Television System.

“Throughout his career and throughout his life, he has been a social entrepreneur,” according to a biography on the StanShih Foundation’s website. Nearly in his ninth decade, that’s a mission the aging fan shows no signs of changing.

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@rflannerychina