Development Strategies of Leading STB IC Design Houses in China
May 07, 2008 / China Research Team
15 Page, Topical Report
US$1,680 (Single User License)

Abstract

China is now the bastion of global digital STB manufacturing with over 200 STB assembly service providers in 2007. The STB IC market is, however, still dominated by STMicro and LSI. Chinese STB IC makers have only a limited market share and most are focusing on domestically developed Chinese standards. With China's release of the DMB-TH terrestrial and ABS-S satellite broadcasting standards in 2007, new market opportunities have opened up for Chinese STB IC makers. The report examines the current developments of the Chinese STB IC industry in terms of leading companies' background, products, R&D, and customers.
  •  Table of Contents
  •  List of Topics
  •  List of Figures
  •  List of Tables

Though China is now the world's center of digital STB manufacturing with over 200 digital STB manufacturers, the STB IC market is still currently dominated by foreign companies with Chinese developers controlling a very limited share. This situation was mainly the result of Chinese STB IC design houses' late entry to the market, leading to a technology gap. Their development has therefore focused mainly on the Chinese home-grown standards. NationalChip, Legend Silicon, and HDIC for example are all concentrating on the development of IC compliant with Chinese standards and only began looking at developing commercialized products when the standard they supported failed to be approved. Haier IC, on the other hand, has focused on developing products compatible with international standards and it is now one of the leading Chinese STB IC design houses in terms of shipment volume.

China has, however, approved and made their homegrown digital TV standards such as DMB-TH and ABS-S compulsory. The AVS standard for IPTV has also been approved by China Netcom and China Telecom. As a result, the Chinese STB market is now moving over to home-made standards, providing a golden opportunity for design houses that have concentrated on supporting Chinese standards. In the demodulator sector, these include Legend Silicon, HDIC, Fudan Micronano Electronic, and Availink; in the decoder sector, Chinese STB IC designers such as Haier IC, Image Silicon, and Celestial have won over their customers with MPEG-2 support and their parent companies' orders. Finally, Chinese STB IC design houses such as General Circuits, Longjing Microelectronics, and Fullhan Electronics have taken the next step forward by releasing chips that support the MPEG-4/H.264/AVS standards in order to capture the Chinese market.


Appendix

Research Scope

This research report looks at the digital STB IC design houses in China, including those involved with the design of demodulator and decoder IC. An analysis was conducted on their backgrounds, scale, R&D, products, and customers.

To get MIC's complete insight, please log in.