June 30, 2004
Taiwan's digital content providers expect the market for on-line audio and video content to grow rapidly in 2004 now that the island's broadband infrastructure is in place. Chunghwa Telecom's Hi Channel, Webs-TV and RealMa will all be striving to stake their claims in this emerging market.
ACI-FIND, a research unit of the Advanced e-Commerce Institute of the Institute for Information Industry, released a report recently showing that the number of broadband users in Taiwan has officially exceeded the three million mark. With only an estimated ten percent of these users taking advantage of pay services for audio and video content, digital content providers see big business opportunities in the near future. Webs-TV forecasts revenue growth of 400 percent this year compared to last year.
Webs-TV and ELTA Technology, established players in Taiwan's online digital content market, operate the Hi-Channel platform and Channel 5 portal, through which they cooperate with domestic television and radio stations and movie studios. ELTA Technology has announced plans to greatly increase new users by attracting traditional television users over to its service with low-cost converter boxes and by further developing its platform. It also plans to publish a broadband content magazine similar to a weekly television guide in June to existing and potential customers.
RealMa, a newcomer to the market, has obtained sole distribution rights in the greater China region from RealOne, a subsidiary of Real Networks. RealMa also has the backing of some major media and Internet investors in Taiwan, including former GigaMedia vice president Chen Wei-jen. Despite its relatively late entry into this market, partnerships with international media and music companies, including the BBC, CNN, EMI and Sony Music, put it in a position to offer unique content to domestic viewers. (Commercial Times, Digital Content Industry Promotion Office)
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