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Native name | 全友電腦股份有限公司 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| TWSE:2305 | |
| Industry | Computer hardware Electronics |
| Predecessor | Multitech International |
| Founded | October 23, 1980; 45 years ago (1980-10-23) |
| Founder | Bobo Wang |
| Headquarters | Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park,Hsinchu,Taiwan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products | Scanners,digital imaging,medical imaging,LCDs |
| Revenue | NT$715 million (2016)[1] |
| (NT$116 million) operating loss (2016)[1] | |
| NT$33 million (2016)[1] | |
| Total assets | NT$2.8 billion (2016)[1] |
| Total equity | NT$1.7 billion (2016)[1] |
Microtek International Inc. (Chinese:全友電腦股份有限公司;pinyin:Quányou Diànnǎo Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is aTaiwan-basedmultinational manufacturer ofdigital imaging products and otherconsumerelectronics. It produces imaging equipment for medical, biological and industrial fields. It occupies 20 percent of the global imaging market and holds 450 patents worldwide.[citation needed]
It is known for its scanner brands ScanMaker and ArtixScan. The company launched the world's firsthalftone opticalfilm scanner in 1984, the world's first desktop halftone scanner in 1986, and the world's first color scanner in 1989. It has subsidiaries inShanghai,Tokyo,Singapore andRotterdam. It expanded its product lines into the manufacturing of LCD monitors, LCD projectors and digital cameras.[2]
In 1979, theTaiwanese government launched theHsinchu Science and Industrial Park (HSIP) as a vision ofShu Shien-Siu to emulateSilicon Valley and to lure back overseas Taiwanese with their experience and knowledge in engineering and technology fields. Initially there were 14 companies, the first was Wang Computer (王氏電腦), by 2010 only six of the original pioneers remained:United Microelectronics Corporation (聯電),Microtek International, Inc. (全友), Quartz Frequency Technology (頻率),Tecom (東訊), Sino-American Silicon Products Inc. (中美矽晶) and Flow Asia Corporation (福祿遠東).[3]
Microtek (Microelectronics Technology) was co-founded in HSIP in 1980[4][5] by five Californian Taiwanese, three were colleagues who had worked atXerox[6] Bobo Wang (王渤渤), Robert Hsieh (謝志鴻),[7][8] Carter Tseng (曾憲章)[9][10][11][12] and two were colleagues from theUniversity of Southern California, Benny Hsu (許正勳)[13][14][15] and Hu Chung-hsing (胡忠信).[3] They decided to set up root after Hsu was invited by HSIP Manager Dr.Irving Ho (何宜慈).[16][17] In September 1983, the Allied Association for Science Parks Industries (台灣科學園區同業公會 abbr. 竹科) was established and Hsu was elected to be its first chairman.
Microtek first entered the industry in 1983, when scanners were little more than expensive tools for hobbyists. In 1984, it introduced the MS-300A, a desktop halftone scanner. At about the same time, the company realized a need for scanning software for mainstream users and developed EyeStar, the world's first scanning software application. EyeStar made desktop scanning a functional reality, serving as the de facto standard for image format for importing graphics beforeTIFF came to fruition. Microtek proceeded to develop anOCR, or Optical Character Recognition, program for text scanning, once more successfully integrating a core function of scanning with its machines.[citation needed]
In 1985, Microtek set up itsUnited States subsidiary, Microtek Lab, Inc.,[18] inCerritos,California. The company went public in 1988. It was one of Taiwan's initial technologyinitial public offerings.[4] Microtek hasresearch and development labs located in California and Taiwan dedicated to optics design,mechanical andelectronic engineering,software development, product quality, and technological advancement.[19] According toAnnaLee Saxenian's 2006 bookThe New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy, Microtek has produced more than 20% of the worldwideimage scanner market.[20]
In 1989, Microtek invested inUlead Systems[20]: 166 (based inTaipei) which became the first publicly traded software company in Taiwan in 1999. Ulead System was founded by Lotus Chen, Lewis Liaw and Way-Zen Chen three colleagues from Taiwan'sInstitute for Information Industry. Microtek helped Ulead by jointly purchasingCCD sensors fromKodak which benefited both companies as it was a component not yet locally produced at the time.
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