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Matthew Ryan · · 5 min readWhy Taiwan’s software startups struggle to match its chip giants
During the Taiwan Computex show in May, Nvidia announced that it will build a new global headquarters in Taipei.
Justifying the reason for choosing Taiwan for the facility, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hailed the market as the “center of the computer ecosystem” and “the largest electronics manufacturing region in the world.”
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Huang’s reasons are unsurprising – since the 1980s, Taiwan has been known as a global hub for hardware innovation. In the first quarter of 2025, its semiconductor sector accounted for over 70% of global market share.
Many other major semiconductor players hail from Taiwan, including Foxconn, MediaTek, and Advantech. It’s also the home of global computer brands like Asus and Acer.
However, most people – including those from Taiwan – would struggle to name even a few notable Taiwanese startups and software companies.
The market’s software ecosystem is relatively nascent, especially when compared to its hardware sector.
Taiwan’s software industry is set to reach an estimated market volume of US$5 billion in 2025, according to Statista. This is minimal compared to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) alone, which recorded US$25.5 billion in revenue for Q1 2025.
Such a disparity goes deeper than the numbers, showing why Taiwanese startups are facing an uphill battle for global recognition.
Deep-wired cultural bias
For decades, Taiwan’s best talent has gravitated toward the hardware and industrial sectors. Its present level of economic prosperity is partly the result of a gamble taken in 1987 to develop a local semiconductor industry through the creation of TSMC.
Photo credit: AlmondYue / Shutterstock
Institutions like National Chiao Tung University – which is located in Hsinchu, widely considered the center of the world’s chipmaking sector – established facilities to train high-tech professionals for both academia and industry, such as the Foxconn-NYCU Research Center. These universities draw Taiwan’s top talent since hardware engineering offers high salaries.
According to Glassdoor, the median total pay for a hardware engineer in Taiwan is NT$1.5 million (around US$50,900) per year.
Lack of success stories
Not thinking globally
Bright prospects
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While Taiwan’s hardware sector is thriving, its startup scene lags far behind. Here’s why – and what might finally change that.
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