But not all tests require such sophisticated equipment built either in-house or purchased from specialized makers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) had first-mover advantage and today makes more than half the sales to specialized makers (see the A-List).
Such specialized makers in Taiwan as CMC Magnetics that have in the past offered some of the best pure exposure to CDs will probably be global leaders in DVD disc manufacturing, too, because of their good outsourcing ties and manufacturing know-how.
Market makers are specialized intermediaries, registered with the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, who provide liquidity through the buying and selling of large volumes of securities.
By the late 1970s, however, Malden Mills, a Massachusetts textile maker that specialized in baby bunting, began experimenting with polyester's outdoorsy potential.
Thus the fund owns two old-line Austrian manufacturers — Semperit, a maker of specialized rubber gear like escalator handrails and high-strength hoses, and Mayr-Melnhof Karton, a paper and packaging producer.
Each enterprise software maker originally specialized in something different -- Oracle in databases, PeopleSoft in human resources, Siebel in customer-relationship management, SAP in enterprise-resource planning, which covers a variety of back-office operations.
For example, Oracle, a big maker of specialized business software, plans to increase its jobs in India to 6,000 from 3,200, while Microsoft plans to double the size of its software development operation in India to 500 by late this year.
What may be most notable about Pixar's success, said Mr. Perlman, is that despite the company's roots as a maker of specialized animation tools and custom hardware, its continuing success has been largely because of the quality of its storytelling rather than any technological advantage.
Ko reinvested the proceeds from selling Mandarin Dragon to buy the publicly traded UAL, a consumer electrical goods maker that specialized in Christmas lighting.
Chinese A.T.V. makers specialize in the smaller, less-powerful vehicles that are usually used by children, from 6 to 16 years old.
