Taiwan picks up in game console OEM business

By
the end of June, six million units of Xbox 360 had been sold and it is estimated
that the figure will reach 10 million units by the end of this year. Nintendo
Wii also can generate sales volume of four million units by the end of this year
and 15 million units next year. It is projected that the sales volume of
Nintendo Wii can reach 20 million units by 2008. Sony PS3 sales volume is
expected to be two million units and six million units by next March. According
to MIC statistics, console game hardware market scale will be up at $8.443
billion by the end of this year and $9.937 billion next year. The increase also
showed in OEM business. PixArt, an IC design houses in Taiwan, has been the sole
supplier of Wii joysticks. With the increase of Wii shipment, the shipment of
PixArt also doubled. In terms of PS3, Asus is the only assembly manufacture
contractor and Hong Hai will join next year. If the sales volume reaches the
goal, Asus can be expected to bring significant revenue this year. Foxlink has
been Xbox 360 connector supplier as well as component supplier of PS3 joystick.
Besides console game hardware OEM business, game developers have also caught on. 
However, with higher entry levels, game developers in Taiwan are still focusing
on Xbox 360 including Interserve and Softstar. Soft-World is planning to
introduce on-line games next year.