14 DAY TRIAL // That is one domain I'd never hoped to see the Taiwan-based manufacturer Gigabyte entering: the automotive industry. I guess when that deal with ASUS went sour, they were stuck with a little more than they could handle, Gigabyte United. However, the manufacturing giant has a lot of deals, including one with Google and Intel, in which they have to supply the motherboards for Google's servers, which will use Intel's processors. On the other hand, expanding is the name of the game, and the automotive industry is still an untapped domain into which computer hardware will fit right in.
The CarPC concept has become very familiar to many car owners, and some companies have taken advantage of this market by introducing their products. Now with Gigabyte, the deal is different, as they aren't manufacturing computer hardware for mounting in the cars (although it's a pretty sound idea); they are actually distributing cars from Peugeot in Taiwan. Surely enough, the potential growth for this business is huge and a partnership would benefit both sides; as I'm looking at their names, suddenly something like the Gigabyte 307CC pops into mind.
Taking a couple of steps back to look at the big picture, Gigabyte's reason for entering such a domain could be triggered by some kind of money problem, or the desire for expansion into the CarPC business (they'd be stupid not to), or even both. And it's not just the ASUS break-up that affected them on a financial level, it's also a little $5 million mishap that took its toll on the company's revenue. One of Gigabyte's employees, Chang Chaosong, factory manager at Ningbo Gigabyte Technology in China, allegedly "listed Gigabyte as a guarantor for a bank loan towards a third party loan", making Gigabyte liable to repay the loan if the third party wouldn't.
Apparently, that third party didn't repay the loan, and Gigabyte had to come up and show them the money. The guilt is on Mr. Chang's shoulders, as he didn't request the company's approval before setting up the transaction. It's funny how such a small thing could do so much damage, but Gigabyte is going to pay for the loan, the responsible person no longer works for the company, and probably will find it difficult to work in the same domain ever again; but hope is not lost, as Gigabyte's partnership with Peugeot will mean some revenue is due soon. How soon? BaoJia United, the new company that will distribute cars for Peugeot, is expected to start its operations in May 2007.