The Web TV Market in China: Emerging on Medium-Sized TVs and Household Tablets
China’s Web TV market kicked off in 2009, with 2.5 million Web TV set shipments and 0.4 million Web TV STB shipments. The fast development of the Web TV set market is driven by the competition between all the domestic giant TV vendors, and the low additional cost for a Web TV set helped it to gain wide user acceptance.
The Web TV STB market, on the other hand, faces difficulties owing to its limited sales channel and to high retail pricing. Some telecom operators are deploying Web TV STBs along with subscriptions to their high bandwidth Internet access, but they do so while keeping a low profile due to regulation concerns.
China’s Web TV market has a golden opportunity under the triple-play policy: the value chain is maturing, a new business model is emerging, and new services and applications demanded by users will also drive the hardware evolution.
This PowerPoint report analyzes both China’s Web TV set and STB markets, outlines the market status, value chain, and ecosystem, gives in-depth analysis on future Web TV applications and devices evolution, examines the trends in China’s Web TV market, and provides forecasts on Web TV shipments and ASPs over the next 5 years.
China's CMMB Market Update: Subsidies from China Mobile Activate the CMMB Market
On January 28, 2010, China Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) commercialized the China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) network. The CMMB signals have been broadcast in 301 cities with coverage to 500 million people, making CBC the operator of the largest mobile multimedia broadcasting network in the world. But for all these cities, the problem of indoor coverage still exists. We believe that CBC will begin to resolve this problem in the near future, but the construction process could last a long time because improving indoor coverage will require an investment 10 times greater than the investment for outdoor coverage.
This report includes a network update, a CMMB device market update, and a CMMB chipset update. Also included is a discussion on the market trends and an updated forecast for: - CMMB mobile phones and subscribers - Other CMMB devices and subscribers - CMMB receiving chipset revenue.
China's Cloud Computing Market: Taking Off in 2012
China’s cloud computing market was launched in 2009. Some large enterprises such as SinoChem ERP and China Mobile have already built up their private clouds for internal use.
The Chinese government has played an important role in developing the cloud computing ecosystem. Many local governments also invested in building cloud computing platforms in 2009.
Cloud computing is the key technology to realize China’s “Internet of Things” goal and will help it reduce carbon output in the future.
In-Stat believes a boom in the cloud computing market is only a matter of time; however, there are barriers like low user acceptance of SaaS and Telecom operators’ reluctance in upgrading IDC to IaaS, which will delay fast growth in China’s cloud computing market for 3 years.
The report outlines China’s cloud computing market status, value chain, and ecosystems in detail, gives solid analysis on demands toward cloud computing from the government, telecom operators, Internet companies, as well as enterprise and private users. This report has also offered in-depth analysis on the drivers and barriers for the public cloud (including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) and private cloud markets in China, and provides a forecast on China’s cloud computing service revenue over the next 5 years.
China's Cable STB Update: HD STB Will Boom In 2012
2009 marked the sixth year of the digitization of cable TV in China. Cable subscribers numbered more than 163 million and digital cable subscribers accounted for about 40% of the total, reaching 65 million. While the whole system shift experienced steady growth, growth will be negative for basic STBs in coming years.
However, in China, a new potential market for HD STBs is blooming, prompting In-Stat to predict that shipments of HD STBs will reach more than 19 million by 2014, while revenues reach US$1.3 billion during the same period.
This report examines the changes taking place as the market moves from SD to HD STBs, analyzes the main difficulties hindering the development of HD STBs and how these things will affect HD STBs’ future development. Also, market trends and other detailed drivers/barriers to the forecasts are provided in this report.
Data Card Market Update: Chinese Operators Use Varying Strategies
The 3G data card market experienced significant growth in the last quarter of 2009, when compared with the data card market update in September of 2009. As of January 2010, China Mobile has about 1.1 million 3G data card users. China Unicom launched their 3G services in October of 2009; the total number of WCDMA data card subscribers is approximately 0.5 million. China Telecom has the most CDMA2000 1X 3G data card subscribers of the three operators—about 3.4 million.
To provide a fuller understanding of the changes in China's 3G data card market from September 2009 to January 2010, this update first provides a market status update, then analyzes operators’ strategies in the data card market, and finally, it explores two major problems with 3G data card market in China.
Thanks to the softening of MIIT's ban on Wi-Fi, vendors of branded handsets are now permitted to sell Wi-Fi handsets in China. In-Stat believes that branded Wi-Fi-enabled phones will dominate the market going forward, and that shipments will reach 7.7 million by the end of 2010.
This report is exclusively focused on the handset industry. Using information gathered from interviews with industry experts, chipset vendors, and handset vendors, we outline the current Wi-Fi phone market status and examine the various sub-markets, including black phones, smuggled phones, and branded phones. A value-chain analysis that examines the impact of WAPI and researches operator attitudes is also provided.
Finally, we provide five-year forecasts for China's Wi-Fi handset market and discuss market trends in the three sub-markets.
At the end of September 2009, China Mobile and Satellite Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) had set up 26 regional branches in charge of China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) operation in 26 provinces. And CMMB’s network coverage has extended to 191 cities.
However, CBC has only developed 3.5 million subscribers so far, which is far behind its 10 million subscriber target in 2009. In-Stat believes there are multiple reasons for the shortfall, the most important of which is that CMMB services are no longer free of charge.
In-Stat has also adjusted our forecast on CMMB subscribers due to the impact of exclusive cooperation between CMMB and TD-SCDMA.
To better understand the impact of the exclusive cooperation brought to the CMMB market, the report first gives an update of China’s CMMB market status and outlines the key factors causing the slow growth. Then it presents analysis showing how the exclusive cooperation between TD-SCDMA and CMMB affects CMMB’s growth. Finally, the report gives an updated forecast of the CMMB market over the next five years.
China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom began 3G deployment in 2007, and subsequently developed terminals and 3G business brands with value-added services. All three began commercial trials in early 2009 and, beginning on May 17, began to officially roll out 3G services.
There is, however, a large gap between the current number of 3G subscribers and 3G terminal shipments. To provide a fuller understanding of the current status and future development trends of China's 3G industry, In-Stat interviewed specialists from several parts of the industry, including operators, netbook vendors, chipset vendors, OEM vendors, and handset vendors. Using this research, the report first outlines the current status of the market, then discusses the gaps between operator goals and the current status, and analyzes current market problems. It then discusses the 3G evolution plans and 3G service strategies of China's operators. Finally, it provides 3G terminal and subscriber forecasts based on our analysis.
Market Update: China’s 3G Network Not Ready for Data Cards
All three Chinese telecommunication operators began commercial trials of 3G services in early 2009. The official launch of both 3G and related services took place in May. Data cards are the primary product used to promote 3G data services.
At the end of July, China Mobile estimated that it had over 1.2 million TD subscribers (the actual number was closer to 1 million), 15% of which were data card subscribers. Currently, we estimate that China Unicom has no more than 200,000 WCDMA subscribers; most of these are data card subscribers. At the end of June, China Telecom had a total of 1.2 million CDMA2000 EVDO data card subscribers—the highest among the three operators.
As of September 2009, the total number of 3G data card subscribers stood at around 1.55 million, far fewer than operators anticipated.
To provide a fuller understanding of the changes in China's 3G data card market, this report first provides a market status update, then analyzes current problems in 3G data card development, and finally, it provides an overview of 3G market development.
China's CMMB Market Update: Lessons Learned From Shanghai Trial
Please note that this report is part of a tracker that is updated quarterly. If you would like to purchase all four reports in a given year, the cost is $3995.00.
Following the remarkable growth in 2008, China's CMMB market continues its fast pace. By June 2009, China's mobile and satellite broadcasting corporation (CMSBC) had established CMMB operational companies in 23 provinces in China; the CMMB network covers 178 major cities in China.
In March, CMSBC started its first trial commercial operation in Shanghai, with a monthly subscription of US$2.9, or annually US$29.4. However, as of June, CMSBC had only developed 5,000 pay subscribers due to the shortage of attractive content and the expensive subscription fee (for China).
This update covers the current CMMB/Mobile TV market in China.
The Chinese government has awarded 3G licenses for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and CDMA 2000 to China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, respectively, effectively bringing China into the 3G era. From the point of view of technical evolution, what's next for 3G?
In China, the situation is clear, as both the Chinese government and the three principal telecommunication operators have announced their support of LTE. However, the LTE strategy of each operator varies according to their current positions in the telecommunications market and their currently adopted 3G technologies.
In this report, we first provide an overview of the current mobile telecommunications market both globally and in China, followed by a brief introduction to LTE technology and In-Stat's analysis of the Chinese government's possible spectrum allocation plan for LTE. The report then analyzes in detail the driving forces behind LTE and the challenges it faces in penetrating the Chinese market. We also analyze the LTE strategies of each of China's three principal operators. Finally, we provide forecasts for LTE terminal shipments and subscribers in China through 2013.
Slow Times, Fast Growth: China's Video Conferencing Market
Driven by the Beijing Olympics and the global economic crisis, China's video conferencing market experienced booming growth in 2008. Revenue grew 27% over the previous year.
Video conferencing solutions have been widely deployed by both China's government and enterprises. Competition between video conferencing equipment vendors is heating up, resulting in lower-cost equipment and more customized and optimized video conferencing solutions and services.
The video conferencing services market also enjoyed tremendous growth in 2008. Service-based video conferencing solutions became widely used by medium- and small-sized enterprises due to their low cost.
This report defines and categorizes China's video conferencing market, outlines the market status of the video conferencing equipment and services markets, provides profiles of the major customers, vendors, and products, gives an in-depth analysis of China's video conferencing value chain and business models for both the equipment and services markets, examines trends in China's video conferencing industry, and provides forecasts for the video conferencing equipment and services markets.
Cellular data cards, which are used with laptops, netbooks, or other mobile end devices to provide wireless Internet access, have become a hot topic with the deployment of 3G networks in China. Among 2.5G data cards, CDMA2000 1X mode dominated the Chinese market from 2007 since it can provide better access speed (50–60Kbps in practice) than GPRS or EDGE. Based on In-Stat's research, CDMA2000 1X data card subscribers in China reached 8.5 million at the end of 2008. According to In-Stat’s consumer survey fielded in April 2009, we found that current 2.5G data card users show low satisfaction levels with regard to the access speed, specifically, more than 60% of respondents show dissatisfaction with the current 2.5G network speed.
With strong support from the Chinese government, Chinese operators started 3G network deployments in 2007, beginning with TD-SCDMA by China Mobile; coupled with WCDMA by China Unicom, and CDMA2000 EV-DO by China Telecom in 2008. With a total subscriber base of 634 million 2G/2.5G users in 2008 in China, there's still a great potential for transferring subscribers from 2G/2.5G to 3G in 2009.
Please note that this report is part of a tracker that is updated quarterly. If you would like to purchase all four reports in a given year, the cost is $3995.00.
This report introduces the market status for China's popular mobile TV standards, specifically outlining the development of CMMB in 2008 and analyzing why CMMB is outplaying the competition. In addition, the report gives in-depth analysis of the CMMB value chain and business model, and offers a forecast of CMMB chipset shipments and revenue for the next five years.
Satellite TV in China: Potential US$4 Billion Receiving Device Market by 2012
On June 9, 2008, the Zhongxing-9 broadcasting satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China. The satellite was used for live television broadcasts prior to the Beijing Olympic Games.
The Zhongxing-9 satellite uses China's home-grown broadcasting standard, ABS-S, and broadcasts 48 standard-definition and high-definition channels to those areas of central and western China that cable TV cannot reach.
As of now, there are over 100 million cable TV subscribers in China. Almost 30 million of these received cable via the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) policy of whole system shift; however, there remain about 200 million households with a TV set but no cable connection; these currently receive TV signals via analog terrestrial transmission or illegal satellite STB and antennae; as such, the launch of Zhongxing-9 should generate a huge market for satellite receiving systems and their related chipsets.
Digital Cable STBs in China: Network Reconstruction Leads the Way
The digitization of China’s cable TV entered its fifth phase this year, and Whole System Shift is proceeding rapidly in all parts of the country. By the end of the first half of 2008, total subscribers numbered 37 million (25% more than the total number of cable subscribers nationwide) and more than 70 cities had completed digitization.
The digital cable STB industry also experienced phenomenal growth in 2008. Greatly encouraged by both the Beijing Olympics and by “Some policies regarding digital TV industry development” (also known as File #1), which was published by the General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China in January 2008, total digital cable STB shipments reached 11 million in the first half of 2008, double the previous year’s figure.
This report outlines the current status of China's digital cable STB market, details the latest market trends, analyzes market drivers and barriers, and provides shipment and revenue forecasts for 2009–2013.
Internet Advertising in China: New Agency Model Brings New Growth
In 2007, Internet advertising revenue accounted for only 1.6% of China’s total advertising revenue. Advertising via traditional media continues to dominate the industry, but the potential market for online advertising is huge.
This report analyzes the four most common Internet advertising models, namely portal, search, games, and SNS. As the Internet has developed over time, advertisements have evolved from simple display to being interactive or embedded. Some of the major changes in the current Internet advertising model are media convergence, advertising content control, and user-generated content.
Changes in the advertising value chain, with examples, are also discussed in this report, along with new advertising business and measurement models. Finally, the report provides forecasts for the future development of the online advertising industry.
FTTH in China: Policy Replacing Cost as the Primary Concern
With the increasing use of richer and higher-definition content over networks, the need for greater bandwidth is becoming increasingly apparent. As of June 2008, there were an estimated 253 million people actively involved in online communities in China. Of these, 214 million use broadband to access the Internet. Although the most promising technology for providing the needed bandwidth, FTTx, has only 332,000 subscribers out of a total broadband subscriber base of 78.3 million, its numbers are certain to grow since xDSL is unable to meet the growing demand for higher bandwidth.
However, the most advanced stage of FTTx, FTTH (fiber to the home), may be still years away because of significant market barriers. Operators in China are therefore paying greater attention to an intermediate FTTx technology, FTTC/N (fiber to the curb/node) + xDSL, because of its cost advantages.
In this report, In-Stat provides you with the latest research and models the cost of FTTH and FTTC/N + xDSL to illustrate our analysis. Based on our reading of current policies, we analyze the FTTH scheduling strategy of several operators, including China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and the Broadcasting and Television Bureau. Finally we provide forecasts for FTTx subscribers, OLT shipments, and ONU shipments from 2008 to 2012.
Wi-Fi Usage in China: Thriving Growth Fueled by Wi-Fi City
In recent years, Wi-Fi in China has enjoyed continuous growth both in industrial use and in the deployment of Wi-Fi City. Industrial Wi-Fi growth has been driven by the increasingly information-based nature of Chinese business, while consumers are attracted to Wi-Fi City because it is often free to access. In 2007, shipments of Wi-Fi APs for industrial use reached 532,300. At present, around 14,300 hotspots are deployed nationwide in China.
In 2008, Wi-Fi will experience robust growth in both home use and Wi-Fi City. Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly popular for home use as a result of delays in the awarding of 3G licenses, and the popularity of Wi-Fi City is being driven by service bundling, e.g., a package of services including xDSL, cellular, FTTx, fixed phone, etc.
Deployment of Wi-Fi City is currently being accelerated in order to meet increasing demand.
This report covers the classification of Wi-Fi City, the business model, the subscriber profile, current status of Wi-Fi City, and market forecasts for Wi-Fi AP/router within each category in China.
Internet-Enabled TV Market in China: Open Apple TV
In-Stat has identified an important trend for Internet-enabled TV, which would permit the downloading of video and other Internet content in the Chinese television market. At present, China has become the largest market for both TV and broadband access in the world: -There are 400 million household TV sets in China, with 1.3 billion TV viewers. -There are 160 million cable TV households in China, with 30 million digital TV users expected by the end of 2007. -More than 70 million fixed broadband subscribers currently exist in China, and there are more than 250 million Internet users.
Further, Internet video-related activities are most popular among Chinese Internet users. Thanks to the fast growth of Internet users and an improving network environment, the total number of Internet video viewers in China reached 98 million in 2007.
This report reveals the value chain for this market, consumers' attitudes (from a mass survey), and examines related issues and solutions covering cost analyses and regulatory risks from government supervision. In addition, the report concludes with a market forecast for potential numbers of Internet-enabled TV subscribers in China.
Wi-Fi City in China: Users Reluctant to Become Subscribers
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) City refers to a service promoted to customers for city-wide Wi-Fi connectivity. The biggest difference between Wi-Fi City and a Wi-Fi hotspot is that Wi-Fi City is intended to provide seamless Wi-Fi connectivity city-wide, rather than in limited areas.
In order to best meet the increasing demand for Wi-Fi, the process to develop Wi-Fi City is being accelerated in many cities throughout China. Currently, this service is free of charge, but discussions regarding payment for services were planned after the Olympics.
However, the primary challenge of implementing Wi-Fi City still stems from the lack of a proper business model. There are four possible business models: 1) Charge for all the services; 2) Sell ads to pay for services; 3) Charge for broadband services; make narrowband free; 4) A combination of the models above. In-Stat surveyed Wi-Fi hotspot users and potential Wi-Fi City users regarding their interest in the city-wide service and in the business models outlined above. The results of the survey are presented in this report along with our analysis of the challenges that must be met to make Wi-Fi City a successful enterprise.
The entire online world has taken notice of the phenomenal membership growth of social network services (SNSs) such as MySpace and Facebook. Now China’s SNS market is entering the development stage.
To learn more about current and potential user attitudes toward SNS and mobile SNS, In-Stat conducted an online survey of 704 respondents. The survey’s findings include that SNS has become “sticky,” i.e., these services have cultivated loyal memberships. Also, the SNS market in China has entered a phase of rapid development, whereas mobile SNS is at an early stage of development. Overall, Chinese consumers appear to have moderate interest in SNS and comparatively low interest in mobile SNS.
This report analyzes survey responses regarding user behavior and preferences relating to SNS. Our results show that SNSs based on IM, especially local websites such as QQ Space, are highly popular with respondents. SNS use in China is closely related to IM use, and the long-tail SNS market is of considerable size. Most of the other preferred social networking sites are popular portal websites. Finally, respondent payment and advertisement preferences reveal the business model that most would prefer to use.
Mobile Video Communication in China: Experience Impacts Acceptance
Recent increases in the access bandwidth of fixed broadband and cellular networks have led to service providers and equipment suppliers looking to video communication as an important source of potential revenue. Over the past several years, operators in China have begun the deployment of video communication, video conferencing, and video surveillance systems in order to provide video-transmission services beyond voice and data.
Meanwhile, the IM-based video communication market, which includes services such as MSN and QQ, has grown rapidly. According to In-Stat’s research, more than 30% of users have used their IM service’s video function.
In pre-commercial TD-SCDMA trials conducted this year, China Mobile launched video communication as a single key application. However, paid video communication services have not as yet obtained market traction, and so telecom operators and equipment manufacturers need a more thorough understanding of end-user acceptance levels, attitudes, and expectations of video communication services in order to move this market segment forward.
To this end, In-Stat conducted a telephone survey of 352 current users and 352 non-users of video communication in March 2008. The results along with analysis of the results are presented in the report.
Digital Photo Frames in China: User-Generated Photos Play at Home
An increasing number of vendors are entering China’s digital photo frame (DPF) market. As more players participate, the value chain has become more complete. The value chain includes chipset providers, solution vendors, brand vendors, distribution channels, and users.
Digital photo frames are used to showcase digital photos with detail and clarity. Photos are generally downloaded from digital cameras, camera phones, and digital camcorders. Frames are sold in two markets: home and enterprise. In this report, In-Stat focuses on home use.
In-Stat’s analysis of usage patterns indicates that there are three demographics in China that are the most likely end-users of digital photo frames. Based on our analysis of the market opportunity and usage scenarios, we have concluded that, in China, DPFs are primarily regarded as a device for the display of user-generated photos for the home.
For future development trends, In-Stat believes Wi-Fi 802.11g and Bluetooth will be the key interfaces used to access content; that encoders and decoders will support all types of video; and that 2G–3G storage will become the mainstream by 2010.
In this report, we present our analysis of market drivers and barriers and provide a forecast of shipments from 2008 through 2012.
Internet Video in China: Skyrocketing Consumer Demand
Internet video-related activities are fast becoming the most popular among Chinese Internet users. Thanks to the fast overall growth in the number of Internet users and an improving network environment, the total number of Internet video viewers in China—namely anyone who watches video from Internet sources or downloads video content via the public Internet—reached 98 million in 2007. In-Stat estimates that this number will more than double by the end of 2012, reaching 234 million. Ad revenue for the Internet video industry was US$40 million in 2007. This figure will grow to US$1.1 billion by 2012.
In-Stat conducted interviews with experts from leading companies in the Internet video market to obtain a clear picture of the value chain and their company's current status with regard to their revenue model, volume of video clips, circulation rate, etc.
This reports presents In-Stat's research regarding the business model of Internet Video in China, revenues, problems facing the industry, and the future of Internet video in China.
IP Cameras Are the Next Growth Area in China's Video Surveillance Equipment Market
China’s video surveillance market had revenue of US$4.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 24.2% over 2006’s US$3.3 billion. The digital surveillance systems currently dominate the surveillance system market and are gradually replacing analog systems. However, the IP-based video surveillance market is growing rapidly and had over 25% of the total market at the end of 2007. In-Stat forecasts that use of digital video servers (DVSs) and Internet Protocol (IP) cameras will grow rapidly between 2008 and 2012, with CAGRs of 18.4% and 50.6%, respectively, and that the growth of DVR use will be rather stable, with a CAGR of 7.4%.
This report analyzes the total market size of China’s video surveillance market, broken down by system generation and application area, and analyzes future trends. It also analyzes three key equipment markets, namely DVRs, DVSs, and IP cameras, and provides market size and information about the main players in each market. The report also provides an analysis of the compression chipset market, including the main vendors and the technical requirements for chipsets.
Also included is an analysis of market drivers and barriers and five-year forecasts for the DVR, DVS, and IP camera markets. Finally, the report analyzes the products and strategies of related companies, including equipment manufacturers, chipset vendors, and telecom operators.
China's Mobile TV Receiving Chipset Market: CMMB Outperforms Other Standards
In-Stat divides mobile TV into three categories: broadcast television, cellular streaming, and cellular broadcasting. Of these, only broadcast television requires a receiving chipset in end devices using the service. This report focuses on broadcast TV technology.
This report provides the following information: 1) China’s mobile TV market dynamics. 2) End-device chipset solutions for the home-grown mobile TV standards CMMB, DMB-T/H, T-MMB, and CDMB. 3) Analysis of analog mobile TV chipsets. 4) Forecasts for mobile TV subscribers and chipset revenue. 5) Subscriber forecasts for standards outside China: DVB-H, MediaFLO, T-DMB, and ISDB-T.
Cable Modem Market in China: High Growth, Low Volume
Cable modem service is an important part of the triple-play strategy set out by Chinese cable operators. In addition, broadband data service is viewed as an important revenue booster and competition counter-measure against telecom operators' invasion into video service. However, as digital cable conversion has had most of the resources available to cable operators tied up, CMTS deployment and cable modem service are currently only available in a handful of locations. In-Stat believes that cable modem service will become a long-term revenue driver for most cable operators, but that large-scale deployment is still two or three years away.
The cable broadband access market in China is growing at a steady pace. In-Stat estimates that there were 2.69 million cable broadband subscribers in 2007. This number will grow to 8.16 million by the end of 2012, a CAGR of 24.9%. However, cable broadband’s share of the entire broadband access market will remain moderate at around 6% throughout the five-year forecast period.
In-Stat believes that, compared to the rest of the broadband access market, penetration for the cable modem market will remain moderate. Its market share will grow from 4% in 2007 to 6% in 2012. We also forecast that xDSL technology will still dominate the market in 2012.
