According to MIC (Market Intelligence Center), an ICT industry research institute based in Taipei, Taiwanese residential VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) equipment shipment value grew 33.8% year-on-year to US$365.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, and shipment volume rose 50.7% to 6.80 million units. Among various residential VoIP products, VoIP router shipment volume slipped 6% year-on-year to 298,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2006; TA (Terminal Adaptor) shipment volume soared 228% year-on-year to 282,000 units; IAD (Integrated Access Device) shipment volume advanced 37% to 2.95 million units; E-MTA (Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adaptor) shipment volume topped the 3 million mark, jumping 67% to 3.27 million units.

Broadcom accounted for nearly 60% of the total Taiwanese IAD chip market and, via even closer cooperation with Vonage, further boosted its overall VoIP chip volume, making it the leader in the Taiwanese residential VoIP equipment chip market, boasting a market share of 47.1% in the fourth quarter of 2006. TI accounted for 60% in the E-MTA segment, the largest Taiwanese shipment item, and thus secured a 41.3% share in the overall market. Meanwhile, rapidly growing demand for VoIP equipment in the German market in the second half of 2006 led to higher demand for Infineon chips, enabling Infineon to rack up a market share of 7.4%.

Major Western European telecom carriers are set to start IAD biddings, while cable TV operators in North America will continue to release orders, enabling the global residential VoIP equipment shipment to see steady growth. Taiwanese residential VoIP equipment shipment volume is expected to hit 7.0 million and 7.3 million units in the first and second quarters of 2007 respectively, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 28.8% and 21.3%.

Western Europe will remain the major IAD shipment destination in 2007. However, telecom carriers in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and East Asia will also successively launch VoIP services following the gradual relaxation of their telecom regulations. Meanwhile, under the competition between high-speed broadband and FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence) services, IAD functions will keep on upgrading and extend to include VDSL (Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line) capability and mobile network compatibility, which are expected to generate further DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) replacement demand. It is expected that IAD shipment volume will hit 3.29 million and 3.42 million units respectively in the first quarter and second quarters of 2007, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 22.7% and 27.1%.

North America will remain the major E-MTA market in 2007. Numbers of cable TV subscribers are not high in Western European countries with high cable TV penetration rates, such as Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and Portugal. There is no dominating cable TV operator in Germany, while ntl in the United Kingdom is facing competition from integrated services offered by BT, and therefore has limited room for market growth. In Asia, Korean and Taiwanese cable TV operators do not have specific VoIP promotional plans yet. Consequently, the E-MTA market is expected to remain flat. It is noteworthy, though, that North American cable TV operators have started pushing VoIP services among corporate clients using cable modems for Internet access, a trend expected to boost the demand for E-MTA products with four ports and more. It is forecasted that Taiwanese E-MTA shipment volume will advance 36.7% and 25.2% year-on-year to 3.14 million and 3.27 million units in the first and second quarters of 2007 respectively.

Existing VoIP service providers, including Vonage, Packet8, and sipgate, will continue to generate demand for TAs. In addition, the gradual liberalization of telecom policies in emerging countries is projected to spawn new VoIP service providers which will offer lower-priced VoIP services and equipment than local PSTNs to attract subscribers, thereby upholding the Taiwanese TA shipment volume. It is expected that Taiwanese TA shipment volume will hit 291,000 and 283,000 units in the first and second quarters of 2007 respectively, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 65.4% and 30.6%.

More information can be found in the following MIC report.  The Taiwanese Residential VoIP Equipment Industry, 1Q 2007

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