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02.03.2008
Multimedia handsets fuel growth of control chip industry
The mobile phone sector is the hottest market for South Korean
multimedia control chips. Suppliers focus on high-end chips for
multifunctional models.
The evolving multimedia capabilities
of mobile phones continue to drive growth in the multimedia control
chip industry. Mobile phones top makers’ list of applications, followed
by portable media players (PMPs), MP3 players and portable TVs.
According
to market research firm IDC, the world’s multimedia component market
for mobile devices is estimated at $27.8 billion in 2007. The firm
forecasts the market will grow to $28.6 billion in 2008, and to
$29.9 billion in 2010.
In
South Korea, smartphones and multimedia phones are chip suppliers’ main
application targets in 2008. Makers in this region are capable of
producing low-priced yet high-performance multimedia control chips for
low- to high-end models. Despite this capability, competition in the
mobile phone market has pushed some suppliers to shift to
less-saturated markets such as PMPs and car and home audio devices.
Three
major players supply multimedia control chips for mobile phones and
PMPs in South Korea: Corelogic Inc., Mtekvision Co. Ltd, and Telechips
Inc.
According to Kwang Woo Lee, assistant manager of
Telechips, not all suppliers cater to both applications. Multimedia
control chips for mobile phones play only subsidiary parts for video
and audio, while in PMPs they have to play controlling functions of
core CPUs.
© Source: www.electroniccomponents.globalsources.com
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