Pegatron Corporation () is a Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company that mainly develops computing, communications and

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic ( analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usuall ...

for branded vendors. It also develops, designs and manufactures

computer peripheral A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by th ...

s and

components Circuit Component may refer to: •Are devices that perform functions when they are connected in a circuit. In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems *System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assemb ...

. Pegatron's primary products include

notebook A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

computers,

desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...

game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...

handheld device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physic ...

motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

video card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer m ...

s and LCD TVs, as well as broadband communication products such as

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of s ...

es and

cable modem A cable modem is a type of network bridge that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), radio frequency over glass (RFoG) and coaxial cable infrastructure. Cable modems are primar ...

History

In January 2008, ASUSTeK Computer began a major restructuring of its operations, splitting into three independent companies: Asus (focused on applied first-party branded computers and electronics); Pegatron (focused on OEM manufacturing of motherboards and components); and Unihan Corporation (focused on non-PC manufacturing such as cases and moulding). In the process of the restructuring, a highly criticised pension plan restructuring effectively zeroed out the existing pension balances. The company paid out all contributions previously made by employees. On 1 June 2010, Asus spun off Pegatron Corp. Pegatron has in recent years become a significant components supplier for

Tesla Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

During the second wave of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

in India, Pegatron had to halt their production when some employees tested positive for the virus. Pegatron's India plant took over some production of

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

iPhones due to the pandemic affecting its Shenzhen operations.

Corporate profile

Operations

Pegatron's principal executive offices and many assets are located in Taiwan. As of March 2010, Pegatron had approximately 5,646 employees stationed in Taiwan, 89,521 in China, 2,400 in the Czech Republic and 200 in the United States, Mexico, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Pegatron has manufacturing plants in Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Indonesia, and China, and customer service centers in the United States and Japan.

Subsidiaries

Unihan Corporation

As part of the corporate restructuring of ASUSTeK Computer in 2007, Pegatron acquired Unihan Corporation from ASUSTeK in January 2008. Since 2008, the Unihan Corporation has been a subsidiary of Pegatron Corporation that designs and manufactures computers,

computer peripherals A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by th ...

and audio-video products.

Corporate social responsibility

In June 2008, with its PUreCSR corporate responsibility system, Pegatron became a member of the EICC (Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition), a group of companies in the electronics industry that supports the implementation of the Code of Conduct throughout the electronics and information and communications technology supply chain, ensuring safe working conditions, respect and dignity to employees, and environmentally responsible manufacturing processes. Pegatron's corporate responsibility system, PUreCSR (which stands for ''P''egatron & ''U''nihan ''re''duce, ''re''use, ''re''cycle, ''re''covery, ''re''place & ''re''pair Corporate Social Responsibility), meets the international standards: the

ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) ...

Environmental Management System, the

OHSAS 18001 OHSAS 18001, Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series, was an international standard for occupational health and safety management systems that was subsequently adopted as a British Standard. Compliance with it enabled organizations to de ...

Occupational Health & Safety Management System, and the QC 080000 Hazardous Substance Process Management System. On 18 May 2010, the board of directors at Pegatron unanimously approved to appropriate a sum within 0.5% of net income every year to charity.

PEGA Design and Engineering (PEGA D&E)

PEGA Design and Engineering is Pegatron's design team that was originally branched off from the ASUSTeK design team. The PEGA D&E helps Pegatron's clients with product development, including market research, conceptualization, product design, materials study, and production.
In addition to 3C (computer, communication, consumer) electronic products, Pegatron designs home appliances and home decor products such as LCD TVs, LED lighting,

phones A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

and more.

PEGA CASA (Pegatron MID - ID design team)

Led by Alain Lee, the PEGA CASA design team (originally branched off from the Asus design team) is dedicated to the design and development of non-IT products in addition to the existing IT product design, including

notebooks A notebook is a small book often used for writing. Notebook or The Notebook may also refer to: Computing *Laptop, a type of personal computer * Google Notebook, a discontinued online application * Notebook interface, a type of programming envir ...

s, e-books, network communication equipment, displays, projectors, cleaning robots and more. These non-IT products include home appliances (PEGA CASA), fashion accessories, vehicle accessories (PEGA MOTORS), building interior design and building materials, multimedia ads and marketing, and cultural businesses.

Controversies

Working conditions

In December 2014, a BBC investigation exposed poor working conditions and employee mistreatment at Pegatron factories making

products near

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. It found staff being forced to work eighteen days in a row without any days off, workers falling asleep on the production line during shifts lasting between 12 and 16 hours, forced overtime, and a cramped dormitory room which twelve workers were forced to share. In August 2016, China Labor Watch published a report which stated that working conditions had not improved since 2014. The average worker at Pegatron's Shanghai factory works 80 hours of overtime a month. Over 62% of workers worked more than 100 overtime hours in March 2016. Workers are required to perform up to 1 hour a day of unpaid overwork. 64% of its maintenance department interns are overworked. At the same time, over 96% of Pegatron workers are only making minimum wage, well below Shanghai's average income despite the extra overtime hours they put in. In November 2020,

discovered that Pegatron was using student workers in factories in mainland China. Due to this, Apple suspended their business with Pegatron and stated that they would not grant the company any new business until this practice was ceased. In December 2020, Pegatron's Shanghai subsidiary Pegaer Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.「昌碩科技」broke out in labor disputes. Thousands of people gathered to ask for salaries. In response, the factory director led the beatings of the people who had gathered, and many police officers came to the scene to suppress it. Some people were beaten to the ground, and many of their fates remain unknown. More than ten people were arrested, triggering a rights defense incident.

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in Taiwan Manufacturing companies based in Taipei Electronics companies established in 2007 Companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange Electronics companies of Taiwan Multinational companies headquartered in Taiwan Taiwanese brands Taiwanese companies established in 2007