According to MIC (Market Intelligence Center, Taiwan), an ICT industry research institute based in Taipei, in the first quarter of 2008 Taiwanese WiMAX CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) shipment is estimated at 185.200 units, representing a sequential decline of approximately 12%. With shipment volume declining and ASP (Average Selling Price) not seeing much change, shipment value in the first quarter fell 11.3% sequentially to approximately US$35 million. As for form factors, indoor CPE and outdoor CPE shipment remained stable in the first quarter. However, due to a shipment decline of PCMCIA cards, the shipment share of outdoor CPE shipment increased to 46.4%, with indoor CPE shipment share growing to 43.3%. Shipment share of PCMCIA cards fell to 9.7% in first quarter due to a considerable shipment volume decline. Regarding technology, 16d product shipment volume in the first quarter was roughly the same as the previous quarter, while the shipment share of 16e products declined to 56.3%, falling 6.2 percentage points sequentially.

Although 16e network deployment and service provision by Taiwanese manufacturers' telecom operator clients entered commercialization in the previous quarter, several issues emerged in the first quarter of 2008 causing shipment volume to fall below expectations. "In North America, telecom operators deploying networks encountered backhaul problems, delaying commercialization schedules and directly impacting shipment of Taiwanese manufacturers. Meanwhile, Pakistan experienced political and economic unrest, causing delays in the schedules for service provision," according to MIC Industry Analyst Richard CT Wong. "Developments in these two regions led to delays in the shipment of 16e WiMAX CPE shipment, and caused shipment to be below expectations. 16d shipment was stable. PCMCIA cards are transitional products, and their shipment decline is expected to continue in the future."

Looking towards the second and third quarter of 2008, on a global level, WiMAX 16e product certification will continue to accelerate, allowing telecom operators more flexibility in CPE procurement and enabling them to acquire Wave 2 products, which offer better performance at a relatively low cost. Telecom operators such as Malaysia's Packet One, India's Tata Communication and BSNL, and Japan's UQ have also invested in network deployment, and WiMAX technology will develop unabatedly in the worldwide market.

However, new telecom entrants deploying networks will not have large-scale demand for CPE in the short term, while it is unclear when the adverse factors hampering developments in North America and Pakistan will be resolved. It is therefore expected that Taiwanese makers' shipment will face a high level of uncertainty in the near future. In the second quarter of 2008, Taiwanese WiMAX CPE shipment volume is expected to reach 236,000 units, while shipment volume in the third quarter is forecasted to amount to 327,000 units.