Taiwan may end up in a difficult spot in the coming decades unless they embrace production of distinctive (non-commoditized, like "iPhone" vs. "generic smartphone") consumer brands, or step up their efforts in software.

Its current strengths are in the stuff that exists inside the products we use every day. Think semiconductors and other hardware components. However, that know-how is being commoditized rapidly. China is catching up. Japanese multinationals like Sony are also eyeing the same, gradually stepping away from competing on low-margin consumer products.

For Taiwanese consumer electronics, you have brands like HTC, ASUS, Acer, or even a niche newcomer Gogoro (electric scooters). Sizeable, but not agile enough to take on players like Xiaomi.

And the software scene is unfortunately not very bustling despite the government's repeated efforts to pour money into startup hubs and coworking spaces. This is what Taiwan's #1 online shopping portal looks like [1]

[1] https://shopping.pchome.com.tw/

"Brain drain" to China and the US compounds some of these challenges. Very low salaries may be in part to blame here -- an engineer in Taiwan may make an equivalent of about $40k USD/year, while a home still costs as much as it does in Palo Alto.