Pegatron is currently evaluating the possibilities of establishing plants in Vietnam and India, while its new plants in Batam, Indonesia has already begun shipping network communication products in January, according to company CEO SJ Liao.

Liao pointed out that the company is most likely to have to construct its own plants from scratch in Vietnam and India as it is unable to find suitable assembly partners locally, and most existing vacant factory structures cannot house IT assembly lines.

It may take two years of preparation for such plant projects and it is quite impossible to see mass production start this year.

However, Pegatron only used around five and a half months to start operation at its production lines in Indonesia, as the company was able to find good partners locally. As most Southeast Asian workers tend to seek jobs near their home towns, manpower available for each of Pegatron's plants in the region are expected to be limited. Currently, Pegatron's plant in Indonesia has less than 20,000 workers and establishing plants in more places will be the key strategy for its expansion in Southeast Asia.

Pegatron is particularly interested in India's potential due to its rich manpower and natural resources, while India's advantage in software can also complement Taiwan's hardware.

Liao also noted that clients are currently still placing significant volumes of orders with Pegatron and expects Internet of Things (IoT), smart home devices, game consoles and infotainment products to become growth drivers for the company in 2019.