Due to the fact that we depend on the information obtained through interviews with manufacturers/channels to reach its conclusion on the scale of market, the data provided by manufacturers on the types of products they offer, their operating revenues and marketing activities shall have a considerable impact on the final analysis of the reports. The data reported is the result obtained after repeated crosschecks. We are confident that the reported data is accurate and meaningful.
Summary Industrial environments China's digital television market has started, but it is still in the development stage. Since national standards and policies were not issued for quite some time, the digital television receiver industry has not entered the stage of mass production. Because of this, no one wants to invest in it, resulting in tremendous difficulties that are now being faced by the industry. If those standards are issued before the end of 2005, China's digital television industry will enter a rapid development era from 2006 to 2008. These standards would cover implementation specifics like Host-Card Separation and digital transmission technologies. The content resources of digital television are in short supply and the service platform has not been completely established.
Commercial mode From examining commercial operation models of cities where digital television is currently operating, the following features have been identified. Large cities are intermediately developed and citizens have a relatively stronger purchasing power. Government plays an important role in the process of promoting digital television and boosting its development. The problems of high investment and sluggish returns are addressed by the joint assumption of investment risk for all parties. In the early stages of market development, promotion should be stressed but efforts should be take to minimize its popularity.
At the same time, some common problems with the development of digital television have been discovered. The availability of suitable content is the most important bottleneck to the development of digital television. Current models of STB sales go against the development of digital television market. The costs of partnerships are unclear and there are potential disagreements with the division of the returned benefits. Interactive TV programs are in short supply. Finally, the digital television industry does not show its advantages. These problems should be solved as the industry grows and development proceeds.
User scale and market scale In 2004, there were 1,020,000 subscribers of digital television, and in 2005 it is estimated that there will be 5,350,000 home subscribers. The beginning of an explosive growth trend gradually appears. After this rapid growth from 2006 to 2007, it is estimated that there will be 50,000,000 residential subscribers of digital television by the end of 2008. The compound growth rate of digital television subscribers is estimated at 164.6% from 2004 to 2008.
The number of digital television sets sold from 2004 to 2008 is expected to exceed 25 million. This has a compounded growth rate of 79.7%. The volume of digital STBs sold during the same time is expected to exceed 21 million, reaching a compound growth rate of 126.4%.
Suggestions to SARFT Problem of standards Standards of host-card separation should be published as soon as possible. The lack of standard has resulted in incompatibility issues between DTV systems in different regions. It is impossible for competent set-top box manufactures to bring large-scale resources to the DTV field. Therefore, they are unable to introduce huge social resources for the development of DTV, which severely affects the speed of DTV development.
At the same time, agreements on standards related to services and interactions should be strengthened. CA agreements of different manufacturers are widely adopted in front end systems, which mean that front-end systems are closely related to STBs. This increases the production and maintenance costs for STB manufacturers, effects STB upgrades and next generation deployment, consequently slowing the DTV development.
Ideas for development The SARFT needs to create a highly unified awareness of digital television within its own ranks. They also need to decide how fast they want to develop the technology, as well as define the desired scope of development. If they blindly push the technology to high speeds too fast, they will lose the consumer confidence and trust. Our Findings indicated that only 15% of consumers are aware of DTV. SARFT should promote the concepts through various channels, allowing the consumers to become aware of new technologies.
At same time, SARFT should think about different development designs according to the variable conditions across regions. The integral translation method does not fit all. For example, if the integral translation method were completely adopted in Beijing or Shanghai, it would be an enormous investment, demanding large amounts of content and a continuous flow of funds. The integral translation method will bring substantial difficulties to the development of medium or large cities.
The administrative authorities of Radio, Film and Television should separate the production and distribution of television programs into a step by step schedule. This would allow them to design good programs and integrate all resources into the development DTV. Using regulations and market economy laws, special corporations could be built to fulfill the content and service needs of DTV.
Cooperation for a win-win status The relationship between cable digital TV and IPTV is not competitive, but complementary. The DTV market dominates with wider audiences, but IPTV is more convenient to use and can be viewed without being online. The users of cable television consist of most consumers, yet the users of IPTV are a small consumer subset. So the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Information Industry are cooperating with a concerted effort to develop DTV and realize its win-win status.
DUBLIN, IRELAND, (NAMC) - Research and Markets has announced the addition of Focus Report On Digital TV Industry to their offering.
