- Taiwanese DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) shipments totaled 8.5 million units in the second quarter of 2004, rising 105.1% year on year. Rapid subscriber growth in China pulled Huawei and ZTE's sales volume, while the rescinding of installation fees inspired subscriber growth in the UK. Combined with the start of shipments to operators in Italy, orders to Taiwanese makers saw a substantial increase.
However, shipments from some makers were impeded by complications in software fixes for lower-priced chipsets. Volume of wireless ADSL devices also declined in the second quarter after the first quarter growth spurt petered out. DSL shipment volume thus realized a modest 7% gain.
Taiwanese DSL shipment value climbed 68.7% year on year to reach US$280.2 million in the second quarter. The increase was partly attributable to a migration in operator procurement from ADSL modems to routers. ADSL routers comprised 56% of volume, compared to 53% in the first quarter, while ADSL modem share dropped from 29% to 25% during the same period.
Furthermore, some European and North American operators began rolling out voice over DSL services, creating greater demand for higher-end IAD (Integrated Access Device) modems. IAD share grew to 4%; however, given the small share IAD continues to hold, Taiwanese DSL ASP (Average Selling Price) plateaued.
In the third quarter of 2004, European and Chinese DSL subscriber growth will likely continue, which will benefit Taiwanese shipment volume. Share of higher-end devices is also expected to increase, energizing ASP and shipment value. Yet the efforts to cool down the economy by the Chinese government could pose an inhibiting force on subscriber growth in China. Taiwanese DSL shipment volume is hence anticipated to grow 7% in the third quarter of 2004 to reach approximately 9.1 million units.