DMB module manufacturers go abroad for growth

The market for ground wave DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting) in Korea has already been established. DMB services were initially launched in the National Capital region, but will soon be deployed nationwide. Domestic demand for DMB terminals, including navigation, is expected to increase accordingly.



To gain bigger market share, Korean DMB manufacturers are expanding overseas, specifically Japan, Europe, and China. Several companies have started supplying modules using Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard in Japan. Also, plans are underway to release DVB-H modules targeting the European market.



One of the factors that contributed to the booming market is the declining unit price of DMB modules. Today’s DMB modules cost 60 percent less than initial offerings. While some of the early players in this field already bailed out, others are successful and are now directly supplying navigation products.“The biggest reason behind the market boost is that navigation or PMP terminal manufacturers have developed their own DMB modules or universal chipsets,” said Sung-gyu Kim, a principal engineer at Freesat (www.freesat.co.kr). “Freesat has been able to achieve stable profit by making terminals as well as developing DMB modules,” he added.



Meanwhile, Unistream (www.unistream.co.kr), another DMB module manufacturer, is developing advanced modules by implementing dual channels and full-duplex transmission and reception. According to Hyun-joon Shin, director of Unistream, technology barriers have been overcome over the past few years. “To attract customers, products should be reliable and technical support must be excellent,” he added.



KEY PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION

With the commercialization of DMB modules, product differentiation is increasingly becoming an important factor for companies. Many Korean manufacturers believe that the Transport Protocol Expert Group (TPEG) service will be the differentiating factor for their products. TPEG service enables real-time transportation information to be received by using DMB terminals and to be displayed on a map. Currently, five broadcasting corporations – including KBS, MBC, SBS, and YTN – provided this service.



“FSM-820T, which is the main product of Freesat, supports the TPEG service as well as other multi-tasking functions. The TPEG feature has been installed into more than 300,000 navigation products and has garnered great response from consumers,” said Freesat’s Kim.



As for Unistream, it has completed the development of one-chip solutions where baseband and multimedia processors and RF chips are integrated. These solutions have the advantage of small size, high performance, and low power when compared to third-party products. Unistream is also developing DMB modules with WiBro in micro-packages.



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Figure 1