The 22nd annual awards highlighted the consolidation of a widening diversity of products being considered for the selection, such as machinery, leisure products, and fitness equipment.

A panel of international judges with expertise in the five key criteria of evaluation – R&D, design, quality, marketing, and Made in Taiwan – chose the 10 winners of the Taiwan Excellence Gold Award. In order to receive the award, selected products must be seen by the judges to demonstrate innovalue ("innovation + added value") in each of the five categories.

Typically known for its ICT products, Taiwan is also one of the top producers of bicycles. Among those firms once again selected for the Taiwan Excellence Gold Award is bicycle maker Giant, who won for the Propel Advanced SL bicycle.

Design Judge Thomas Overthun emphasized Giants extraordinary performance on design this year and said that it belongs without any doubts to the world’s best enactments in this category. Further, Overthurn said that Taiwanese companies made great progresses in the area of design and stressed the design of the new HTC One and the Acer Ultrabook Apire.

Leading brands from Taiwan's that are less-known but highly competitive industries such as machine tools and medical devices also rose up to catch the Gold Award this year. Machine tool maker Hiwin won an award the second year in a row for its Tangential External Recirculation Ballscrew Super T Series, while local medical device manufacturer Karma Corp. took home the Gold Award for its Wheelchair VIP Series.

Designed for elderly who need to seat stably on wheelchair for a long time, it has three main features, with a Tilt-in-space design that can reduce the chance of pressure ulcer; Easy to operate Hydraulic Pressure Support System; and a Foldable to the most convenient size to store and travel to prevent injury for the attendants.

R&D judge Andrej Skrinjar especially lauded the excellent progresses Taiwanese companies made in the past years in research and development in terms of high quality and unique processes.

According to Andrey Skrinjar, “the Taiwan Excellence Award has a great share in the success story of Taiwanese companies reached in the past years”. Moreover, he emphasized the role of the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs and TAITRA, their great support for the industries and the unique form of organization of the awards.

First time Taiwan Excellence judge Andrew Harvey expressed his amazement about the finest quality of products made in Taiwan by companies he never heard of before.

“I think Taiwan has a great opportunity to make herself known for these other lesser known brands in the European market”, said Harvey, a British expert in marketing.

“Although there has been a big breakthrough in terms of promotion, Taiwan still has space for improvement in terms of marketing, especially when making such fine products”.

Taiwan's outstanding credentials in ICT were still showcased in this year's awards. PC maker ASUSTeK, once more received a Gold Award, this year for the Padfone Mini A11. Again HTC Corp. made the list for its HTC One series with its latest model 801e.

Other prize winners in the ICT segment this year included the Acer’s Ultrabook Aspire S7-392 with an elegant design and high reliability of this well-known brand; the Smart LED protable projector ML550 by Optoma Corp.; and return winner Cyberlink with its new PhotoDirector 5 Ultra.

Taiwan’s leisure industry caught two Gold Awards this year thus consolidating its impressive ascendancy in the last years. Yacht manufacturer Horizon made room for his 148 feet Luxury Yacht EP148, while Align Corp made it to the top ten with their Radio Control Helicopter Model Products

Prof. Seijiro Oshimura, Managing Director of the Management Research Institute in Tokyo and Taiwan Excellence quality judge, spoke about how Taiwan products are quickly gaining in prominence in overseas markets and adapting its industry to growth of emerging markets.

“India, China and South East Asia are now the factories of the world and Taiwan has excellent machine-tools for the purpose of producing high-quality products that can be very attractive to these countries”, said Oshimura.

“In that sense, Taiwan has an excellent advantage in terms of geography, language and expertise to become a great producer of high quality machinery”.