AOpen

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AOpen
Type publicly-traded
Founded December 1996
Founder(s) Acer Group
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan
Area served worldwide
Products PC components and peripherals including motherboards, DVD drives, mice, keyboards, headsets, CD drives, BD drivers, webcams, speakers, power supplies
Services tech support
Parent Acer
Website http://www.aopen.com

AOpen is a subsidiary of Acer which produces PC parts and components, which it sells worldwide. It emphasizes 'consistency' in both product quality and availability.

Company History

AOpen was incorporated in 1996 as a subsidiary of Acer Group. It began producing CD-ROM drives in 1997 and opened branches in Japan, China, and Europe between 2000 and 2001.[1]

Historical Financial Information

Historical Stock Prices

Business Strategy

According to its website, "Like AOpen, computer components function as part of a whole. To be successful, each component must work flawlessly within a broad range of other computer products. Understanding this, AOpen dedicates its engineering expertise to the production of components of quality, durability, and the utmost flexibility."[2]

Political and Public Influence

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Political Contributions

Lobbying

Corporate Accountability

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Labor

Aopen is one of the major purchasers of electronics produced at the Lite-On Computer Technology production facility in Shijie Town, Dongguan Province, China (founded 1997).[3] By early 2008, the facility employed about 5000 people who enter the company by paying agencies based in Shijie town, Dongguan, 500-600 yuan (for men) or 200 yuan (for women). [4] While Lite-On production schedules follow a normal 8-hour workday, breaks consist of only 10 minutes twice a day and are unpaid – further, overtime work in the evenings, on weekends, and especially during busy seasons, is mandatory and can reach up to 100 hours a month, in violation of both Chinese Labor Law and the [EICC] standard. [5] Basic wages at Lite-On complied with Chinese minimum wage laws (690 yuan/month in 2007), but until mid-to-late 2007 when overtime began being paid at twice the standard weekend rate (8.24 yuan/hour) the company violated overtime wage laws by paying over 2 yuan less per hour. [5] A fire in the factory in February of 2008 has caused workers to be extremely concerned about their safety, and as of May 2008 production had not yet fully resumed at full capacity due to the damage the fire had caused. [5] Workers are charged up to one quarter of their wages on food, electricity, and water for eating and living in the factory dormitories, which house up to 16 people per room. [5] Research conducted by [SACOM] and [Bread for All] in early 2008 concluded that workers at Lite-On were unaware of their rights under either [EICC] standards or any of the codes of conduct of Lite-On’s customers, including AOpen.

Human Rights

Environment

Consumer Protection and Product Safety

Anti-Trust and Tax Practices

Social Responsibility Initiatives

AOpen emphasizes its initiatives towards the production of greener electronics. Detailed information about its environmental policies can be found at AOpen: Green Products. It summarizes its "vision and strategy" in this regard as follows:

AOpen GREEN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1. AOpen will meet and often outperform the threshold concentration limits for controlled materials set by U.S. and international governments and environmental agencies.

2. AOpen will manage the waste hierarchy by practicing the 3 R(s) of a Cradle-to-Cradle Production Framework

  • REDUCE
    • How? Miniaturize traditional IT solutions into compact, low heat and ultra energy-efficient XC Minis, Digital Engines and VIPs.
  • REUSE
    • How? Efficiently recover manufactured products per legal and agency-compliant standards.
  • RECYCLE
    • How? Use recycled raw materials per legal and agency-compliant standards.

3. AOpen will continually develop cutting-edge sustainable practices through the AOpen Environmental Technology Labs that launched MoDT.

4. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: AOpen will audit vendors occasionally and audit internal IQC and OQC processes to maintain green environmental policies achieving ISO 19011 compliancy (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001)


AOpen also emphasizes extending the lifecycles of all of its electronics.[6]

Business Scope

AOpen is one of the subsidiaries spun-off of Acer to produce electronics for its brand.

Partners

Customers Suppliers Creditors Competitors
Customer 1 Lite-On Computer Technology Creditor 1 Competitor 1
Customer 2 Supplier 2 Creditor 2 Competitor 2
Customer 3 Supplier 3 Creditor 3 Competitor 3
Customer 4 Supplier 4 Creditor 4 Competitor 4


Financial Information

Ticker Symbol: 3046.TW
Main Exchanges:TAI
Investor Website:

Shareholder % Total Shares held
Shareholder 1 % Held 1
Shareholder 2 % Held 2
Shareholder 3 % Held 3
Shareholder 4 % Held 4

Largest Shareholders


Country Revenue Profits Assets Employees
Global Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
USA Revenue 1 Profit 1 Assets 1 Employees 1
Netherlands Revenue 2 Profit 2 Assets 2 Employees 2
Spain Revenue 3 Profit 3 Assets 3 Employees 3
Germany Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
Russia Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
Asia Pacific Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
China Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
Japan Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4
Taiwan Revenue 4 Profit 4 Assets 4 Employees 4

Governance

Executives Board members/affiliations Executive director/compensation Date and venue of next AGM


Contact Information

Voice Line: 886-2-7710-1195

Fax Line: 886-2-7710-1187

Global Web:
global.aopen.com.tw
www.aopen.com.tw
www.aopen.com
FTP Sites:
ftp.aopen.com.tw
asftp.aopen.com.tw

Address:
No.68,Ruiguang Rd.,
Neihu District,
Taipei,114, Taiwan,
R.O.C.

Articles and Resources

Books on the Company

Related SourceWatch Articles

Sources

  1. "AOpen Global: Milestones" accessed July 2008
  2. "About AOpen: Corporate accessed July 2008.
  3. Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” May 2008. p. 10.
  4. Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” May 2008. p. 27.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Jenny Chan, the Research Team of Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Chantal Peyer (Bread for All). “High Tech – No Rights? A One Year Follow Up Report on Working Conditions in China’s Electronic Hardware Sector.” May 2008. p. 28.
  6. "Green Products Strategy"

External Resources

External Articles

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