TAIWAN'S Benq Corp. is a case study in the pitfalls of creating a global brand name, a strategy that many companies based in emerging markets are pursuing.Benq, a consumer-electronics maker based in Taipei, just abandoned a six-year effort to expand beyond so-called contract manufacturing and sell products under its own name. The decision followed two straight years of losses that drove down its shares to the lowest price since 1997.

The pullback followed a disastrous takeover of Siemens AG's mobile-phone unit in October 2005. While the acquisition enabled Benq to become Taiwan's largest maker of brand-name electronics, it also saddled the company with a money-losing business.

Benq incurred at least $1.1 billion of losses in mobile phones during the next 12 months. The company then stopped financing the unit, which filed for bankruptcy protection and is being liquidated.

Now the company, which started out making products for others in 1984, is returning to its roots. Benq plans to spin off the branded business on September 1 and become Jia Da Corp., a name meaning excellent achievements in Chinese.

Jia Da will be its fourth name in the past decade. The company started out as Acer Peripherals Inc. and became Acer Communications & Multimedia Inc. in July 2000. The Benq name, based on the corporate motto "bringing enjoyment and quality to life", was adopted in January 2002 to differentiate the company from Acer Inc., its former parent.

Benq isn't the only company to have a brand in mind when selecting a name. China's Legend Group Ltd., another maker of electronics, took that step three years ago by become Lenovo Group Ltd.

The change preceded Lenovo's takeover of International Business Machines Corp.'s notebook-computer unit in May 2005. The acquisition transformed the company, now based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, into the world's third-largest maker of personal computers. Lenovo's expansion has been more successful than Benq's, even after accounting for costs of cutting jobs and relocating offices. Earnings for the quarter ended December 31 rose 23 percent as the company increased its market share in Asia.

Other Chinese companies are trying to develop global brand names by supporting next year's summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The lineup of official sponsors includes Haier Group Corp., the country's biggest appliance maker, and Tsingtao Brewery Co., responsible for more than half its beer exports.

Acer Inc. shows the possibilities. In the first quarter, the Taipei-based company and Lenovo were tied for third place in global sales of personal computers, according to IDC, a research firm based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Both had 6.7 percent of the market, trailing only Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.

Benq and its chairman, K.Y. Lee, attempted to follow Acer's example. The resulting losses sent the company's shares as low as NT$12.15 last month, down 84 percent from their record of NT$74.30 in April 2000. The drop illustrates the risks that companies face in trying to make a name for themselves.

It's fitting that Alcoa Inc., the world's largest aluminium maker by sales, led the way as the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 13,000 for the first time.

Alcoa has been the best performer in the Dow industrials since October 19, when the 30-stock benchmark first closed above 12,000. Shares of the New York-based company have climbed 30 percent, adding 66 points to the average.

The stock advanced 5.3 percent yesterday after Alcoa said it may sell units that make aluminium and plastic wrap, including Reynolds Wrap, and electrical and electronics products. Shedding the units would present a win-win situation for shareholders.

Alcoa would become more profitable by focusing on aluminium. The company earned 37.7 cents last year on every dollar of sales of alumina, used to produce the metal, and 28.5 cents per dollar on primary metals. The wrapmaking unit generated only 2.9 cents.