FEATURE
purposes, and the Chinese premier Xi Jinping has not shied away from a long-term vision of ‘reunification’, by force if necessary.
This isn’t a new concern for the world and on a micro level, the bike industry, but it is reminiscent of the steady build-up of forces on the Ukrainian border and gradual intensification of drills until the mood in Europe changed overnight. For the time being, this is, gladly, only speculation, though the dialogue between China and Taiwan only continues to sour on the back of the election of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, who rejects the sovereignty claims of Beijing. Why is this topic appearing here? For those who don’t
know, Taiwan is the world’s 21st largest economy, just behind Switzerland and has a $762 billion nominal GDP. Its 24 million people power a manufacturing goliath that very likely has components within the device you may be reading this on; and it was no small fry when it comes to bike industry exports, even before e-bikes came to rely heavily on its semiconductor and other digital industries. Though little to do with China’s increasing shadow over the island, Taiwan’s bicycle exports dipped below 1 million
units in 2024, dipping 36% year-on-year and with a export value straddling $1 billion and down 25.65 year-on-year, this despite the average unit value increasing by just over 8% in light of Taiwan’s e-bike industry meeting demand. Specifically, e-bike export values were up 4.5% to $1,847 for the average unit.
The island hosts some operations of Giant and Merida, among other top-tier labels, but is also a hotbed of innovators. Hyena e-bike systems is just one example of a motor, battery and software maker that has sprung out of nowhere to feature as a key drive systems supplier to numerous leading bike brands. In the case of the ‘A-team’ giants of the island, both mentioned in their pre-tariff financials expectations of growth in the U.S. market, hopes of which now appear dashed, or at least put on ice for now. Caveating this with a big IF, should tensions escalate, the
70-mile gap of the Taiwan Strait is very little ground for intervention. At risk would be enormous export volumes across electronics, base metals, rubber, machinery and plenty more. Considering that one Taiwanese company, TSMC, accounts for 64% of the global market share for semiconductors, any stalling of trade would carry global significance for the e-bike and, by default, bike industry.
www.bikebiz.com
May 2025 | 29
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