Golden Emperor International Ltd.

Jeff Hsieh, CEO of GeIL(Golden Emperor International Ltd.) recently talked with DRAMeXchange about the Taiwan memory module manufacturer’s market strategies and management philosophy, which can by summarized as enhancing company competitiveness and developing own-brand through technology integration. The interview may give insight on how GeIL finds its feet in the global DIY market.

Heading for Industrial Market

When asked about how GeIL stood out in the highly competitive global memory market, Hsieh pointed out that his company was lucky enough to adopt the right strategy of original brand manufacturing (OBM). He also attributed the company’s success to its focus on the DIY market. As for technology, GeIL transforms its unique core technology into product competitiveness, providing not only regular DRAM modules but also special memory designed for PC gamers. The fact that the company defines its products as CE instead of PC components also magnifies the OBM strategy’s effect and influence, and helps raise the brand’s awareness in the market.

In view of the DRAM industry’s characteristic of wild price fluctuations, good management of costs and inventory is the key to a company’s success. The management and production efficiency of the upstream supply chain are equally important. Related capital investment is high as upstream DRAM testers usually cost hundreds of millions; during peak season, the production schedule is so tight to often delay delivery. Therefore, GeIL decided to invest in the development of IC testers and DBT (Die-Hard Burn-in Technology). The method not only substantially lowers the company’s cost in IC testing, but also translates into more stable quality of DRAM modules. These all help elevate GeIL’s competitiveness and brand value, according to Hsieh.

Hsieh continued that while the RMA (return material authorization) rate of DRAM modules averages between 1% and 2% in the market, products tested through GeIL’s DBT will see defect rate below 0.01% , which means for every 10,000 modules there will be only one or none defective product. This is definitely a win-win situation for GeIL, distributors as well as consumers.

The success of tester development also prompted GeIL to step into the industrial computer market. Hsieh went on to say that the same technology and equipment, which can help raise product stability and efficiency, also cater to industrial memory module’s need for energy efficiency, fault-tolerance and buffer, and help meet the demand for high-bandwidth, high-speed and high-capacity.

GeIL’s DBT Technology

Hsieh said that GeIL has poured a lot of money and labor into the development of DBT testers. Processing up to 1,000 modules at one time, the automatic tester can help save a lot of labor and time, and screen out chips or modules of better quality. 

In order to win consumers’ recognition, GeIL’s marketing department labels the technology as DBT. The technology even has its own quality symbol, and only products passing related operating procedure will be awarded the symbol on the package. GeIL’s DBT symbol guarantees quality, and helps consumers to spot the product among similar ones with mixed performance.

Modules tested through DBT will be awarded the quality symbol.

DBT tester can process up to 1,000 modules at one time.

Reliability engineering at its best! Testing temperature up to 100℃ and testing time up to 24 hours to ensure modules of best quality.

On Sustainable Management

Hsieh said as DRAM prices often suffer from a roller coaster ride, GeIL always seeks steady growth and focus on product design and manufacturing, hoping to provide customers with quality modules and great services. The brand name of GeIL is the most valuable asset of the company, and he cherishes the brand as if it was his own child, Hsieh added.

Diversified Development for Bigger Profits in the Future

For the near future GeIL will still focus on the global DIY and gaming markets. Adapting to the ever-changing IT industry, however, the company also plans to allocate more resources to R&D and OBM. In a bid to bring in more profits, GeIL does not rule out diversifying into different markets with existing technology.

On Memory Industry’s Future

Memory manufacturing is one of Taiwan’s most important industries. For the past decade, the island has devoted a lot of resources to the industry’s development, thus fostering a highly-competitive labor force. However, it’s a pity that local memory makers seldom interact with each other. The phenomenon not only deprives them of the opportunity to complement each other, but also leads to constant price cut wars among rival manufacturers. With the memory market in a slump amid global economic recession, Hsieh said, it is time for the industry to reflect on how to leave vicious competition behind, and to integrate upstream and downstream suppliers with memory makers through better cooperation. This is expected to help bring in business opportunities with higher production values, he added.