Set-top Boxes

Essential sourcing intelligence for buyers
Includes mainland China • Taiwan
China manufacturer profiles
Detailed profiles of 36 suppliers, including findings from in-person tours of 20 factories

Product & pricing forecasts
Prices and specifications for 110 top-selling export products

Supply centers & market trends
Coverage of leading and emerging supply centers, plus insight into capacity, output and R&D

What you'll get

Impartial, in-depth profiles of 20 key STB manufacturers in mainland China and Taiwan, including details on manufacturing capabilities, product and price trends, export experience and sales performance. Based on personal factory visits and interviews with senior managers, this information is available nowhere else

Short profile tables of 16 additional producers, highlighting key sourcing data such as monthly production output, export markets and R&D focus for the year

A full-color product gallery featuring 110 top-selling STB export models, including key product features and technical specifications. Products are sorted by product line for easy comparison and reference

The results of Global Sources' latest supplier survey, forecasting price, product, production and R&D trends for the next 12 months

This report covers: DVB-C, DVB-S, DVB-T, IP and other set-top boxes

How you'll benefit

Find out how the trends driving worldwide demand for STBs will impact your sourcing options in the months ahead

Shortlist leading manufacturers that supply to global buyers such as Alcatel, Goldsat and Toshiba

Discover the product-development plans and R&D initiatives that key suppliers have in the pipeline — before your competitors do

Pre-qualify your next suppliers using quick-to-use summary listings covering all featured manufacturers, including comparable statistics, product ranges and verified company details

Executive summary

In-Stat estimates global set-top box (STB) exports in 2005 at 59 million units. About 29 million or 49 percent will be shipped from mainland China. According to Taiwan's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), 6.08 million STBs will be shipped from Taiwan this year, taking up 10 percent of world shipments.

This report covers 24 of mainland China's 50 STB manufacturers. These companies account for about 85 percent of the country's annual STB production.

Taiwan has 20 STB manufacturers, 12 of which are featured in this report. They contribute 70 percent to the island's annual STB output.

Minimum combined production from the mainland and Taiwan makers in 2004 was 17.28 million units, while forecast minimum production in 2005 is 28.29 million units. Aggregate exports from these companies in 2004 and 2005 are at least 13.54 million units and 20.68 million units, respectively.

Manufacturing centers
• Mainland China's key production centers are Shanghai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Shenzhen and Zhongshan in Guangdong.

• Other production centers can be found in Fuzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian, Wuxi and Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu, Jinhua and Kunshan in Zhejiang, Wuhan in Hubei, Chenzhou in Hunan, and Qingdao in Shandong.

• Taiwan makers are mostly based in Taipei. Others can be found in neighboring cities such as Hsinchu, Kaohsiung and Taoyuan.

• Less than half of Taiwan makers have domestic factories. These are in Chiayi, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Taoyuan.

• About 75 percent of Taiwan companies have mainland factories in Beijing and Shanghai, Chengdu in Sichuan, Dongguan in Guangdong and Wujiang in Jiangsu.

Production
• Mainland China manufacturers produced at least 14.11 million STBs in 2004. This is forecast to grow to 22.21 million units in 2005.

• Taiwan makers produced a minimum of 3.17 million STBs in 2004. Output is expected to exceed 6.08 million units in 2005.

Exports
• Aggregate STB shipments from mainland manufacturers were at least 10.51 million units in 2004. Minimum exports from these companies in 2005 will be 15.62 million units, a growth of 48.6 percent.

• Taiwan makers exported 3.03 million STBs in 2004. Shipments for 2005 are estimated at more than 5.06 million units.

• The Middle East and Asia are the main export markets of mainland makers. Taiwan companies target Western Europe, North America and Asia.

• Increasing STB demand in mainland China has local makers reducing export ratios. More Taiwan companies are preparing to grab a share of the mainland market.

• Major overseas customers include cable and satellite operators, system integrators and pay-TV operators.

Industry overview

Global set-top box (STB) shipments in 2005 have been estimated by In-Stat at 59 million units.

Taiwan's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) estimated it at 51.6 million units. The product line includes digital video broadcast cable (DVB-C), satellite (DVB-S) and terrestrial (DVB-T) receivers, as well as combination STBs such as DTV/IP STBs and units with personal video recorders (PVRs).

Mainland China, according to In- Stat, will export 29 million STBs in 2005, while IEK forecasts Taiwan's exports at 6.08 million units. Assuming global shipments are as per In-Stat's 59 million-unit estimate, mainland China and Taiwan will account for 49 percent and 10 percent of the world's STB exports, respectively.

Significance of companies included in this report
There are 50 locally owned STB manufacturers in mainland China, 24 of which are included in this report. The majority of these companies are private and joint-venture enterprises, while some are publicly listed. The 24 companies are said to account for about 85 percent of mainland China's STB production. In 2005, as per information they have disclosed, they will produce a minimum of 22.21 million STB units and export 15.62 million units.

Among the biggest STB producers on the mainland in 2004 were Coship, Sandmartin, Hisense Electric, D-Telemedia and Gospell Digital. In 2005, these companies are going to face a strong challenge from emerging makers such as Desay, Feiyunet, Success Digital and Yinhe.

Taiwan has 20 STB makers, all of which are Taiwan-owned. Twelve of the 20 are included in this report. The 12 companies are said to account for 70 percent of the island's STB production. However, based on information they have disclosed, the 12 companies plan to produce 6.08 million STB units in 2005, or 95 percent of the IEK-forecast 6.4 million-unit production in Taiwan.

Based on 2004 output volume, the leading STB manufacturers on the island include Cal-Comp Electronics, Prime Electronics and Satellitics Inc. In 2005, Taiwan's leading STB makers will find renewed competition in new entrant Quanta Network Systems, a subsidiary of leading notebook PC maker Quanta Computer.

Factory locations
Aside from having a large number of local manufacturers, mainland China's position as one of the largest supply bases for STBs is bolstered by the fact that most Taiwan and Hong Kong STB manufacturers also have their factories on the mainland. Three quarters of the Taiwan companies interviewed for this report disclosed that their factories or subcontractors are in mainland China.

Guangdong province has the highest concentration of factories. Half of the mainland makers surveyed indicated that their factories are in Guangdong's major production hubs — particularly in the cities of Huizhou, Shenzhen and Zhongshan.

Samples of supplier profile

Aonvision Technology Corp.
Founded in 2004, Aonvision Technology Corp. is based in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It focuses on the R&D of DVB-T and ATSC receiver STBs and modules. The supplier's founding shareholders include a technology incubator subsidiary of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

Aonvision uses channel distributors to market standard STBs. Its main customers are other makers who incorporate its DVB-T and ATSC STBs or modules into their products. In Taiwan, local telecom and TV station operators have qualified Aonvision's STBs.

Aonvision forecast annual sales to reach US$6 million during 2005, with an export rate of over 90 percent. The company targets Western Europe and the United States. It has one model of ATSC built-in module for TV ready for sampling in the United States.

Manufacturing capability
Aonvision claims that product performance and quality are instilled at the design stage. When a product leaves the design stage and enters the production stage, the focus is shifted toward optimizing efficiency and minimizing the average unit cost.

The company subcontracts all production processes — from mold making, plastic injection molding, and SMT to PCB subassembly, manual component insertion and final assembly. Its sole subcontractor, Billionton Systems, is a strategic partner with significant investment in Aonvision.

Billionton is a publicly listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Its main product lines are USB and PCMCIA devices for ODM and OEM customers. Its annual revenue in 2004 was US$110 million. Previous customers include Dell and Buffalo (or Melco) Inc. in Japan.

Billionton's factory is located in Hsinchu, where Aonvision's headquarters is also located. The 3,500sqm factory has eight floors. Its 300 workers operate five SMT lines. The plant is ISO 9001:2000- and ISO 14001:1996-certified, and complies with RoHS/WEEE initiatives.

As of Q2 2005, Aonvision was using one of Billionton's SMT lines with a monthly capacity of 5,000 STBs or modules. By end of 2005, it expects to double monthly capacity to 10,000 units by expanding with more lines at the Hsinchu plant, or by taking on a partner factory in Shenzhen, in mainland China's Guangdong province.

Although Aonvision subcontracts manufacturing to Billionton, it owns the testing and QA equipment at Billionton's factory, investing US$3 million in 2004. To maintain product quality, it stations two or three QC personnel at the factory to ensure quality with a 100 percent OQC featuring humidity, temperature, shock and functional tests.

Aonvision's monthly output reached 2,000 units during 2004 and Q1 2005. In Q2 2005, monthly output reached 3,000 units, with 66 percent being taken up by DVB-T STBs and 33 percent by built-in modules. By end of 2005, it expects monthly output to exceed 10,000 units, with built-in modules accounting for over 50 percent of the total output.

Sample of product gallery

DVB-C Company:Biaoqi Model name/ number:VLinker-1000 Indicated FOB price US$: Key features:IP support, 120Mbps uplink rate, switchable PAL/NTSC, 380x220x33mm, 2.5kg

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