Giant has been a long-time supporter of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. The firm's carbon fiber racing bikes bring home trophies nearly every year, and sometimes even the overall championship. The photo shows Team Rabobank, which Giant sponsored in the July 2009 Tour de France, which won the 20th leg of the race. (courtesy of Giant, source: Corvos)

Virtually every industry has suffered damage from the global financial tsunami of 2008. The only ones able to buck the trend have been those related to the increasingly important area of reducing carbon emissions. One of the biggest winners in this sea change has been an industry with both a long history and a strong future, one which combines simplicity with fashionability: bicycles.

In 2008, Taiwan's bicycle industry exported an impressive 5.4 million units, 650,000 more than in the previous year, worth a total of US$1.388 billion. Moreover, the price per unit rose from NT$221 two years ago to US$256 last year, indicating that bicycles from Taiwan have already penetrated the high-end, high-unit-price market.

The largest firm in the industry, Giant, last year produced 5.2 million cycles at its various plants worldwide, and had total operating revenues of NT$41.4 billion. The firm's growth was highest in the Asian market, especially in Taiwan's domestic market, where sales doubled, and the strong sales have continued unabated this year.

In late March, the 2009 Taipei International Cycle Show opened at the Taiwan World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall. A total of 577 makers from Taiwan and 185 companies from 32 countries attended, making this year's event the largest in the 22 years of its existence. In fact, it is now the largest fair for this industry in all of Asia, and is considered one of the top three worldwide along with sister events in the US and Germany.