Developments in North America and Pakistan have led to a projected decline in Taiwan's Wimax CPE shipments in the first quarter.
According to Taiwan's Market Intelligence Center (MIC), Wimax CPE shipment is estimated at slightly above 185,000 units, representing a sequential decline of approximately 12 percent.
With shipment volume declining and average selling price (ASP) not seeing much change, MIC reported shipment value in the first quarter fell 11 percent sequentially to approximately $35 million.
In North America, MIC noted that telecom operators deploying Wimax encountered backhaul problems, delaying commercialization schedules and directly impacting shipment of Taiwanese manufacturers.
Meanwhile, Pakistan experienced political and economic unrest, also causing delays in the schedules for service provision.
'Developments in these two regions led to delays in the shipment of 16e Wimax CPE shipment, and caused shipment to be below expectations," said MIC industry analyst Richard CT Wong.
Later this year, however, MIC expects better shipment of Wimax 16e equipment as product certification continues leading to lower costs for operators.
A number of operators in the region including Malaysia's Packet One, India's Tata Communication and BSNL, and Japan's UQ have announced Wimax deployments.
However, new telecom entrants deploying networks are not expected to have large-scale demand for CPEs in the short term. MIC said it is also unclear when the adverse factors hampering developments in North America and Pakistan will be resolved.
In the second quarter of 2008, Taiwanese Wimax CPE shipment volume is expected to reach 236,000 units, while shipment volume in the third quarter is forecasted to amount to 327,000 units.