Electronics Contract Manufacturing: Global Production and the International Division of Labor in the Age of the Internet

The paper examines recent developments in the international division of labor in the electronics industry resulting from the emergence of electronics contract manufacturing. The transnational production networks of major contract manufacturers are analyzed before the background of the seminal shift to vertical specialization in the information technology industry, as epitomized by the "Wintelist" model of competition and technology development. The author discusses the development of contract manufacturing in the USA and Germany and in low-cost locations in Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Eastern Europe, and the possible impact of e-commerce-based supplier relationships on international knowledge diffusion and local capability formation.