Cable Modem Market Unit Growth Seen At 92% This Year!!!!!
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The cable modem market has the potential for rapid growth, but cable companies will face myriad challenges in creating lucrative businesses in this new on-line arena, a new
study says.
Cable modem shipments in North America should grow 92% this year to 25,000 units, before growing 220% to 80,000 units in 1997, according to Dataquest Inc., a market research firm.
Shipments in 1998 are predicted to be 210,000 units, growing 163% in the year, the report says. Cable modems hold the promise of much faster on-line communications using the cables that companies have
strung to homes for television service.
But technical problems remain, such as adapting the cable systems for transporting computer messages and data upline to a cable company's headquarters. The cable infrastructure is not prepared to receive
the transmissions.
Though the present market is small, it has a lot of potential, Dataquest analyst Lisa Pelgrim told Dow Jones. There are competing technologies, such as ISDN and XDSL, both of which offer speedier
on-line computer communications than the analog modems most computer owners use.
But perhaps the greatest challenge to the cable modem market will be the ability of the cable companies to come up with viable business plans, Pelgrim said.
The companies will need to offer innovative services - beyond just Internet access - to differentiate themselves from other on-line service providers.
More so, they will need greater technical expertise in-house and new support services to aid computer users. The companies also will have to pay to upgrade their network infrastructures to handle two-way
traffic and come up with consumer leasing plans for the expensive modems, Pelgrim said.
Cable modem makers, such as Motorola Inc. (MOT), have begun participating in consumer trials, but Pelgrim said it is too early to judge their success
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From now on I'm going to post in only one thread. It's too much trouble. Hopefully we can keep at two threads and everyone can get the information they need!
These numbers are too low, Motorola has orders for 500,000 already!
Aloha |
