BenQ Corp.'s decision to abandon the branded business and return to its ODM roots marks a detour in the manufacturing story of a region that has become the epicenter of the electronics supply chain.

The evolution of the manufacturing industry, especially in key Asian markets such as Taiwan, has been a remarkable journey. It all began in the 1980s in the United States when some companies started to work for large OEMs as board-stuffers. They eventually got better and ventured into full-fledged manufacturing.

The ODM business model then emerged in Taiwan, where, over the years, firms like BenQ established themselves as international players. BenQ built its name on ODM work and then strove to make it big in the branded realm to compete with the Sonys and Nokias of the world.

And here we are today, when Taiwan's renowned electronics industry titan concedes by passing the name BenQ to a spin-off branded business and acquiring a new name, Jia Da Corp., for a start-over of sorts in the ODM world.

In the ODM turf, however, a lot has changed since BenQ headed for the branded arena early this decade.

As the new firm Jia Da will discover, the demarcation lines between OEM, ODM, EMS and CEM firms are continuously blurring. Moreover, a legion of small and midsize electronics manufacturers in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan are digging for ODM gold.

Among the variety of clients—from small retailers to importers to bulk buyers—companies seem to prefer working with OEM/ODM firms. Some of the manufacturers in these markets claim that as much as 90 percent of their output goes for OEM/ODM work.

The electronics supply chain has been continuously evolving since BenQ diversified from its ODM business. In mainland China and around the world, for instance, some ODMs are subsidiaries of large OEMs, while others provide design services to big EMS firms. Some outfits are a combination of system manufacture/design and silicon design houses.

And then there are design houses that write specifications for component suppliers at the behest of manufacturers. The level of support that these small and midsize electronics manufacturers are getting from chip vendors is only getting better.

Semiconductor suppliers probably take ODMs as seriously as OEM customers, and they have been building strategic relationships with ODMs in Asia. Hein van der Zeeuw, general manager of multimarket business at NXP Semiconductors, recently told EE Times-Asia that his company sees ODMs as an important catalyst in product development and industry growth.

BenQ's recent move, though somewhat anticipated after its failed acquisition of Siemens' mobile phone unit, is still a splash in the Asian electronics scene. It would be interesting to see how Jia Da will find its groove in the ODM game that has changed so much over the years.

Will this halt ODM and EMS firms' march into developing their own-brand products? And what will happen to other big Taiwan ODMs like Asus who likewise ventured into the branded business to seek new growth avenues? The BenQ saga may set the stage for answers to many of these questions in the coming months.

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