Chunghwa Telecom Partners with AOC and Chi Mei to Tap MOD TV Market
2014/05/02 | By Ken LiuChunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., a major telecom in Taiwan, has announced teaming up with TV makers Admiral Overseas Corp. (AOC) and Chi Mei Nexgen Mediatech Inc. to roll out smart TVs embedded with its multimedia-on-demand (MOD) platform, a move considered as part of the carrier's plan to boost its MOD market.
The deal has Chi Mei initially supply Chunghwa the 42-inch and 50-inch LCD TVs and then 55-inch and 65-inch models. AOC will primarily supply 32-inch and 42-inch TVs, to be priced as low as NT$7,500 (US$250). The two makers will ship 5,000 systems in first batch of the contract.
The TVs will allow Chunghwa's service subscribers to watch TV and surf the Internet via TV-integrated set-top-box, the TV version of modem.
Chunghwa released MOD service 10 years ago, and plans to boost the subscriber number in Taiwan to two million next year from planned 1.4 million for this year. In addition, it will work with over-the-top (OTT) content providers to tap overseas market for MOD services, with China and Indonesia designated as the initial targets.
According to Chunghwa executives, the company has approached cable-TV operators and satellite-TV operators in China and Indonesia over cooperation deal by providing MOD-service turkey platform, which has 163 channels including 93 high-definition channels.
AOC executives say that Chunghwa is the first telecom their company has ever worked with, claiming to to be the world's No.1 monitor maker, supplying 45% of products worldwide and counting Dell and HP among its customers.
Industry executives estimate Chunghwa's deal with the two TV makers to generate NT$5 billion (US$166 million) in business for the island's TV supply chain. (KL)
Chunghwa's MOD Strategy
|
| Current Status
| Note
|
| Subscriber number
| 1.24 million
| 1.4 million planned for 2014 and 2 million for 2015
|
| LCD TV partners
| Sony, Panasonic, VIZIO, BenQ, Hon Hai, Infocus, AOC, Sampo, Heran
| Screen sizes ranging from 24 inches to 70 inches
|
| Smart TV partners
| Chi Mei, AOC
| 32-inch to 50-inch TVs initially, 65-inch TVs in next stage
|
| MOD channels
| 163
| Including 93 HD channels
|