Since the large scale market growth triggered by the consumer electronics in 2003, products such as digital camera, DVD Player, MP3 Player and LCD TV have up held the expectations and are reaching a market scale of more than 50 million units and even hundreds of millions of units in 2007. Undeniably, this shows the fact that the hi-tech products are developing towards the consumer electronics market. Digital and networks shall bring the products to the very bottom of an enormous market, and with much anticipations, popular technologies or consumer electronics products will create amazing business opportunities.

Shipment & Future Growth of the 10 Major Popular Consumer Electronics Products in 2007

Source: Topology Research Institute, 2007/04

Observations by the Topology Research Institute pointed out, the ten major popular consumer electronics products that considered a combination of computing power, wireless connection and consumer demands as their starting points, their growth shall be amazing over the next couple of years. Those products include Apple iPhone, digital photo frame, LED NB, Apple TV, Portable Navigation Devices (PND) , e-Paper , hi-tech toys, Satellite Radio, PS3 and Wii. They will not only lead the future trend, but will also bring even more diverse development opportunities for the relevant businesses in the product chain. The shipment analysis of those new products shows: that the largest global shipment in 2007 is the PND, which is to challenge the 17 million units mark. Whereas the shipment of the new generation games consoles such as Wii and PS3 have already exceeded over 10 million units. Looking at the future growth, the Apple iPhone and the digital photo frames looks to position themselves amongst at the front with an explosive growth of more than 50%. They are closely followed by LED NB, Apple TV and PND with a superior high growth of 30% ~ 50%. On the other hand, popular products with small shipments but combine future development trends of fewer children and environmental considerations – such as hi-tech toys and e-paper – their future growth cannot afford to be over looked.

Looking back at the development track-records of the popular hi-tech electronics products in the past – such as digital cameras, DVD Players, MP3 Players and LCD TV – those benefited were mostly major international brands, then Taiwan’s relevant components and assembly manufacturers. It can therefore be seen from this, that the quality components manufacturers of the future popular products (Touch Panel/Pad, CMOS/Motion Sensor, White Light LED, Medium and Small Sized LCD and the SoC IC Design) shall have the best opportunity in winning the first wave of business opportunities. On the audio-visual aspect, Apple TV and PS3 will prompt opportunities of Digital Home and High Definition (HD) Devices and related markets.

Business Opportunities Triggered by the Ten Major Popular Consumer Electronics Products in 2007

Source: Topology Research Institute, 2007/04

As indicated by an observation of the Topology Research Institute, that digital photo frame and hi-tech toys have the highest branding development potential amongst the popular technology products in 2007. As the digital photo frames are heating up in the consumer electronics market, the medium and small LCD and control IC will be the chance for the Taiwanese manufacturers to enter the market. As with the gift oriented digital photo frames, as long as the price can be controlled under 100 US dollars, those who can provide products with an adequate quality will have market competitiveness and those brands will have even more opportunities to develop in the market. On the aspect of hi-tech toys, in the past the products of Taiwan’s consumer IC design firms were mostly categorized in mid/low level toy and educational products, and they are gradually entering the higher level and interactive toys in the recent years. Since the brand conscience of the hi-tech toy market is not high and it has yet seen the market dominance such as the Barbie doll, therefore by research and develop safe, interactive and highly entertaining hi-tech toys, the Taiwanese manufacturers can also have the opportunity to establish their own brand names.