Abstract

Chinese satellite STB manufacturers have exploited the advantage offered by low manufacturing costs in China to expand their ODM, OEM, and OBM market in Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. In this sector Jiuzhou, Coship, Changhong, and Yinhe have delivered stellar performance, though the issue of royalties on patents emerged as a problem in 2007.

With the Chinese government set to adopt a domestically developed standard for digital satellite TV broadcasts, this will eventually solve the problem of patent royalties for Chinese manufacturers. Nevertheless, the Chinese government's policy of Cable, Satellite then Terrestrial for the transition to digital TV will limit the Chinese satellite STB market's growth potential. With the Chinese satellite STB market not yet fully opened up for development and the restrictions imposed by the policy of fixed-location manufacturing and exclusive production and operation, the retail market is currently closed to Chinese satellite STB vendors. This means satellite STB vendors from a broadcasting background such as Jiuzhou and Coship will enjoy an advantage compared to companies like Changhong.

Currently Chinese satellite STB products are still mostly basic models. Although some high-end products that support high definition and PVR have been released with the help of IC suppliers and STB design houses, these remain limited to one to two models at most. With their lack of in-house R&D capability, Chinese satellite STB vendors have been aggressively expanding production capacity to achieve economies of scale and strengthening external partnerships.

Appendix

Research Scope

This study analyzes Chinese digital satellite STB manufacturers' backgrounds, scale, R&D, products, manufacturing and sales.

List of Companies