Smiling curve 微笑曲线
A smiling curve is an illustration of value-adding potentials of different components of the value chain in an IT-related manufacturing industry. The concept was first proposed by Stan Shih, the founder of Acer, an IT company headquartered in Taiwan, around 1992. According to Shih's observation, in the personal computer industry, both ends of the value chain command higher values added to the product than the middle part of the value chain. If this phenomenon is presented in a graph with a Y-axis for value-added and an X-axis for value chain (stage of production), the resulting curve appears like a "smile".

Based on this, ACER has adopted a business strategy to recreate itself from a manufacturer into a company that focuses on global marketing of brand-name PC-related products and services. Meanwhile, ACER also has invested aggressively in R&D to develop innovative technology. The concept later became widely cited to describe the distribution of value-adding potentials in various industries to justify business strategies aimed at higher value-adding activities.

微笑曲线（Smile Curve）是1992年时，当时的宏电脑董事长施振荣在《再造宏：开创、成长与挑战》一书中所提出的企业竞争战略。

微笑曲线分成左、中、右三段，左段为技术、专利，中段为组装、制造，右段为品牌、服务，而曲线代表的是获利，微笑曲线在中段位置为获利低位，而在左右两段位置则为获利高位，如此整个曲线看起来像是个微笑符号。微笑曲线的含意即是：要增加企业的盈利，绝不是持续在组装、制造位置，而是往左端或右端位置迈进。


A smiling curve