Mainland China and Taiwan are home to about 1,150 manufacturers of cables and assemblies, including coaxial cables, fiber-optic cables, flat-ribbon cables and spiral cables. Mainland China has about 450 cables and assembly manufacturers, of which 300focus on coaxial cables, 50 are engaged in manufacturing fiber-optic cables, and about 100 produce flat ribbon cables. Alongside domestic manufacturers are leading global cable suppliers, such as Nexans, Pirelli Cables & Systems, Sumitomo Electric, Furukawa Electric and Siemens, that have set up production bases or joint ventures in mainland China.

Sixty-seven percent of mainland China cables and assembly makers are in the exporting business. Thirty-three percent of them are either foreign owned or foreign-invested.
Sixty-one percent of the profiled companies are OEM-based, most of which are Taiwan and Hong Kong makers. The majority of the profiled mainland China makers specialize in OBM.

Most of the manufacturers have setup facilities in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta areas, particularly in Guangdong, Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Taiwan has about 700 manufacturers of cables and assemblies. Most of these companies have set up production facilities in mainland China due to lower labor costs and access to raw materials, but their head offices and R&D centers remain in Taiwan.

Manufacturers have been riding high with the industry's exponential growth during the past years arising from the growth in computers, telecommunications, CATV systems, consumer electronics and automotive segments.

In 2006, output of cables and assemblies by mainland China makers is projected to register 16.8 percent growth to 31.85 million km. Total output in 2005 reached about 27.25 million km, up by 12.1 percent over 2004. Mainland China makers produced 24.3 million km of cables and assemblies in 2004, with fiber-optic cables accounting for 82 percent of the output, and coaxial and flat-ribbon cables accounting for 16 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Profiled manufacturers believe that NGN and 3G systems, CATV systems and computer network systems will drive the growth of the cables and assemblies industry.

With the granting of 3G license, the telecommunications sector in mainland China will also become a growth driver for fiber-optic cables used in automatically switched optical network (ASON), multi-service transport platform (MSTP) and fiber-to-the-home(FTTH) systems.

The emergence of 3G electronic devices is also seen to push demand for coaxial cables used in mobile base stations, as well as flat-ribbon cables used in cars, LCD monitors and home appliances.

Taiwan's total output of cables and assemblies in 2004 reached more than 371,348 tons, with 297,078 tons exported overseas, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge (IEK) Center.

Production value amounted to US$1.42billion in the same year, and export value totaled US$1.14 billion, accounting for an annual increase of 31 percent.

Taiwan remains a major exporter and manufacturing hub of several cable and assembly suppliers for leading global OEMs such as Sony and Dell.

Fiber-optic, coaxial cables lead output
With the demand for cables and assemblies largely coming from the telecom sector, fiber-optic cables segued into the global market in lieu of copper wires starting mid-1990s.

Fiber-optic cables represent the largest segment for cables and assemblies in mainland China. At present, there are about 50 manufacturers of fiber-optic cables in the mainland, of which most are located in the cities of Wuhan, Wujiang and Fuyang.

Mainland China's total output of fiber-optic cables is forecast to increase by 15 percent to 25.3 million km in 2006. Production in 2005 was approximately 22 million km, representing a 10-percent year-on-year growth.