Hitachi's presence at Computex 2011 can be more strongly felt than its previous participation in the world's second largest IT tradeshow. For the Japanese industrial giant, Computex is an important occasion to reiterate its partnerships with Taiwan's IT industry.

This year, six Hitachi Group companies are at the show: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Asia, Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Hitachi Media Electronics, Hitachi Display, Hitachi Asia (Taiwan), and Taiwan Hitachi Air Condition. They are showcasing a wide range of products and services such as mobile communication solutions, storage devices, security solutions, air conditioning systems, and consumer electronics equipment.

For the general public, Hitachi is a household name for home appliances. But Hitachi, with businesses in various areas, mostly sees itself as an infrastructure solution provider, according to Shih-hung Chen, general manager of Taiwan Hitachi Asia Pacific.

Hitachi has actually participated in a lot of infrastructure projects in Taiwan, such as transportation systems and power generation projects. And Hitachi has also been a major components supplier for Taiwan's IT industry since the 1980s.

"Since the 1980s, Hitachi has had a close partnership with Taiwan's IT industry. In the earlier days we supplied semiconductor, display and other components. And now we've shifted our focus to equipment and materials for making semiconductor and TFT products," said Chen.

For many other Japan-based players, Computex, as a showcase of parts and components for the IT industry, seems now a less relevant venue now that they are not as strong as they were in IT components. But Hitachi is going against the grain, as far as Japan-based players' participation in Computex is concerned. IT industry is of paramount importance to Taiwan's economy, and Computex, for Hitachi, is probably the most important IT tradeshow in the world, as far as actual transactions between suppliers and buyers, and finding partners are concerned. Hitachi's group companies - despite a wide range of very different product portfolios - are making concerted efforts to showcase the Japanese giant's new products and technologies in a booth space of 20 units at Computex 2011.

"Computex is of course a platform for us to promote our new IT-related products and new technologies. Hitachi also sees Computex as a platform to highlight its partnerships with Taiwan's IT industry, and an opportunity for brand promotion," Chen said.

At Computex this year, Hitachi's theme is "A World of Harmony and Splendor," which highlights the company's commitment to protecting the environment and creating a better world through technology. Hitachi says the design of its Computex booth is based on green concepts, and its products all follow the green trends, such as low power-consumption.

While IPS (in-plane switching) panels - which are known for their high brightness for outdoor applications and wide viewing angles - have been widely adopted in TVs and other consumer electronics products, Hitachi's focus for IPS panels at Computex 2011 is on smaller-size industrial applications developed by Hitachi Display's plant in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, such as display devices for yachts and water quality monitoring systems, rather than mobile devices that are more trendy in the IT market. Exhibits range from 7- to 12-inch displays.

Another major category of exhibits is storage. For hard disc drives (HDD), although an agreement has been reached to sell Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) to Western Digital, the deal has not closed, and therefore Hitachi still includes HDD in its Computex portfolio.

For optical storage, Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) is demonstrating the SATA III (6.0Gbps) Hybrid Drive 2G combining optical disc drive (ODD) and solid state drive (SSD) - a successive product to the first-generation ODD Hybrid Drive. The second-generation Hybrid Drive has inside SSD cache that could be adopted to non-SSD-applied products such as all-in-one PCs, mini PCs, HTPCs and gaming/ premium notebooks.

Hitachi Media Electronics, which is chiefly a supplier of optical pick-up heads, is demonstrating a new micro projection application. It is an RGB laser optical module that can be used in such applications as head-up displays in cars. It is the first time that the laser module has been publicly displayed in any shows. Hitachi Media Electronics is also exhibiting some Blu-ray Disc (BD) applications.

Hitachi is an expert in air conditioning systems. Its major focus for this segment at Computex is a monitoring system for air conditioning. The centralized system exhibited by Taiwan Hitachi Air Condition can remotely switch on or off the air conditioning devices in individual rooms, or supplying cool air to one room and heat to another at the same time. Its chief markets are high-end residential housing units, offices, hotels, schools and dormitories. It is the first time that Hitachi Air Condition has taken part in Computex.

Hitachi Asia (Taiwan) is displaying another kind of monitoring system - which is the Finger Vein Biometric System. It is a security system that identifies a person by the veins of his or her finger tips. Fingerprints and even retinas can be faked, but Hitachi says finger veins can't. And only finger veins on a living person will be recognized in security checks. Hitachi says the system is quite widely adopted in Japan, and can be found on ATMs. Such systems are ideal for home security, government and private offices, and even schools. Some luxury housing projects in Taiwan have also adopted the technology, according to Hitachi.