Global Production Value of Network Devices to Grow Steadily in 2010

With the number of users of broadband Internet access increasing worldwide, the production value of the global network device industry is estimated to hit $467 billion in 2010, for a steady growth of 8.9 percent from 2009, according to Topology Research Institute (TRI).

In 2010, TRI noted, some major positive factors, including completion of WLAN 11n standards and popularity of WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) and IPTV (Internet protocol TV) services in emerging countries, will create more need for STB (set top box) and related CPE (customer premise equipment) and end-user devices.

Especially, Chinese and Indian telecom companies` moves to promote 3G communications will help to drive up global shipment of Ethernet LAN switches, constituting a promising outlook for Taiwanese CPE suppliers in the near future, TRI noted.

TRI indicated that Taiwanese network device suppliers will contribute $28.828 billion to the total production value of the world in 2010, up 9.8 percent from this year, with IEEE802.11n standard-based devices as a major growth drive for their shipments of WLAN devices.

Besides, with WiMAX becoming increasingly marketable and popular, the number of users of WiMAX services is estimated to reach 7.85 million in 2010, up 26.1 percent from this year. TRI pointed out that Taiwanese makers are expected to see a 78 percent growth in their shipments of WIMAX CPE and contribute 46 percent to the total of the world.

In the meantime, TRI also looks at IPTV service with favor, indicating that telecom service providers in France, Spain and Italy have already promoted IPTV and related application services to push up their ARPU (average revenue per user), while those in Asia have also launched their IPTV services bundled with broadband Internet services to attract consumers.

The institute projects the number of IPTV service users to surge 44.97 percent to 43.2 million worldwide in 2010, helping to drive up scale of the global market for IP STBs to $1.34 billion.

Source: CENS