- Taiwanese cable modem shipment volume reached approximately 2.5 million units in the second quarter of 2004, growing 35.8% year on year and 10.9% sequentially. Shipment value climbed 22% year on year to US$93.1 million, a 7.8% sequential rise.
Shipment volume growth was driven in part by steady broadband subscriber growth in North America and Western Europe. Facing stronger demand, brand-name equipment vendors such as SA, Arris, and Thomson boosted orders to first tier Taiwanese makers such as Askey and Asustek. Furthermore, Motorola, the world's largest cable modem vendor, began outsourcing a small volume of production to Taiwanese players. Toshiba-America also withdrew from the cable modem market in the second quarter, yielding more of the market to SA, Terayon, and Motorola, which in turn channeled more orders to Taiwanese suppliers.
Share of two-way models, which comprise the bulk of cable modem shipments, saw a slight fall to 87% in the second quarter, compared to 88% in the first. With MSOs (Multi-System Operators) in the initial stages of promoting VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, VoIP cable modems were nudged up slightly to 7% from 6% in the first quarter. With only minor changes in product mix, ASP (Average Selling Price) fell 3% between the first and second quarters of 2004.
In the third quarter of 2004, cable modem subscription growth in North America, Western Europe, Asia, and Latin America should be stimulated by the peak season. Mounting orders from Motorola and contracts for high-end VoIP models will also likely fuel a rise in prices, while Taiwanese cable modem shipment volume builds to 2.7 million units.