Many mainland China manufacturers are shifting from a domestic marketcentric business model toward a more export-driven approach and more Taiwan makers are promoting their in-house labels while improving their OEM and ODM services.

To understand the dynamics of the networking switches and hubs industry, Global Sources carried out on-site interviews and factory tours of 19 manufacturers and phone surveys of seven others. The 26 manufacturers, including 13 based in mainland China, two in Hong Kong, and 11 in Taiwan, were selected based on their relative position in the supply markets. Many of them are first- and second-tier manufacturers. Several are small players keen on expanding their overseas markets, while others were previously emphasizing OEM and ODM, but are now promoting their own brands.

A perspective of worldwide market and the supply market situation in Greater China is presented in the Industry Background section.

The production capacities and plans of manufacturers are discussed in the Manufacturing Capability section. Key production processes, specifying those that are done in-house and those subcontracted, that buyers may use to differentiate manufacturers, are also covered.

Among the manufacturing concerns and issues faced by manufacturers, and the solutions they are applying include:
- To stave off heavy reliance on chipsets from major foreign suppliers that limits R&D capabilities, large companies are starting to develop homegrown core technologies.
- Fearing components supply shortage resulting from rising demand, more manufacturers are providing chipset demand forecasts and looking for alternative suppliers.
In this Report
- 19 In-depth Supplier Profiles
- 7 Supplier Tables
- Product Gallery of 8 networking switches and hubs, including some routers and gateways
- Supplier Index