Cable Technology Feature Article
May 27, 2009
Tandberg TV's Asia-Pacific Revenues up 43 Percent in 2008: Report
By Calvin Azuri, TMCnet Contributor
Tandberg TV has reported a record 43 percent increase in APAC revenues in 2008. The APAC region, save India, contributes to more than one-sixth of its total revenues which was $809 million, up 28 percent from $631 million. Part of the Ericsson (News - Alert) group since 2007, the TV technology arm employs about 40 people across APAC (excluding India) and has two main business units-video compression equipment and on-demand services.
The Video Compression Equipment business contributes to the bulk of the revenues because it constitutes capital expenditure for most operators and its demand remains consistent in spite of the recession. In developed markets where operators are trying to add to their subscriber base, the company drives its on-demand portfolio.
The dynamic IPTV (News - Alert) market is where Tandberg intends to concentrate – as well as cable, DTH and terrestrial broadcasting. Korea drove revenues in 2008 because of a deregulation that enabled three major operators to transition into real-time broadcasting. Tandberg has a 100 percent share in the Korean IPTV market and the revenues to start pouring in. KT (News - Alert) Corp expects an additional 500,000 VOD users to come in by 2010 while SK Broadband is trying to breakeven at 1.5 million subs over the next couple of years. The company expects the next growth spurt to come from SE Asia and Australia and the APAC IPTV market to be the largest globally within the next five years.
On the downside, MPA analysis has indicated that limited content and marketing has led to a less-than-expected take-up and the future is uncertain. Tandberg (News - Alert) intends to focus on the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam where regulatory environment is favorable and Tandberg has entered into an agreement with the sole IPTV provider, FPT.
Tandberg estimates China to be the single largest market in APAC by about 2010-2011, driven mostly by its cable business. Globally, for parent company Ericsson, China and India are the top two global markets. The Chinese cable market is driving the cable market in APAC, even testing out the latest and cutting-edge technologies such as the cable IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert)).
The company recently announced a joint venture with Tianjin Cable, a regional carrier in the process of moving to a digitized system. One of the main focus areas under this agreement has been HD.
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Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Calvin’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
