In this era of "innovate or fail", a company's survival and competitiveness are dependent on its intellectual capital. Fortunately, Accton has achieved real results from its long-term research and development strategy. Every aspect of our multifaceted core technology has strengthened our competitive base. In fact, Accton has transitioned successfully from producing low and mid-range products to producing high-end products as part of our determination to create innovative technology.

Accton's R&D expenditures in 2004 totaled NT$796M, accounting for about 4.31% of our turnover. The company's R&D personnel account for approximately 30% of our total staff, further demonstrating Accton's commitment to innovation and excellence in our products. A study of R&D expenditures in 2000 published by MIC and the Department of Industrial Technology, MOEA, named Accton as the 33rd largest R&D investor among Taiwan companies. Accton was also ranked in the top ten for R&D expenditures as a proportion of revenue.

Having a viable ASIC solution is essential in the networking industry. Accton owns an in-house ASIC design facility and works closely with other ASIC vendors to incorporate resources to better control costs and to enhance performance. For example, Accton is a key investor of Acute Technology Corp. used to develop Enterprise application ASIC technology for high density switching applications. Accton also has close relationships with many key ASIC players such as Marvell, Broadcom, GlobespanVirata, and Atheros. These alliances provide a breadth of ASIC resources to complement our in-house R&D as Accton works to develop solutions to meet customer and market demand.