Taiwan-based IC designer Sunplus Technology recently shipping a single-chip solution that integrates servo and MPEG-2 decoder ICs for DVD players, with which the company ambitiously targets grabbing 10% of the global market in 2003, according to Digitimes. The Taiwanese company declined to reveal shipment volumes or the names of any clients, but said initial shipments are mainly to Taiwanese customers. Although the market is still dominated by Taiwan-based MediaTek, which has reportedly seized almost 50% of the DVD player chip set and single-chip market after it launched the world’s first DVD player single-chip solution in 2002, Sunplus will strive to meet the 10% target by providing good product quality and customer service, company president Chen Yarn-chen said.

US-based ESS Technology and Zoran also started volume production of DVD player single-chips since late in the second quarter of this year, according to sources.

Before last quarter, MediaTek and ALi, both Taiwan-based companies, were the only two suppliers worldwide for the single chips, but the market is expected to be much more dynamic in the second half of this year as an increasing number of competitors have joined the arena, said Arthur Lai, an analyst for the Taiwan-based Market Intelligence Center (MIC).

Last year, Taiwan accounted for about 75% of the global DVD player chip set and single-chip market, Lai said.

Compared to DVD player chip sets, single-chip solutions are more popular due to their relatively low prices, according to ALi president Chin Wu. Prices for single-chip solutions in general have dropped to below US$10, and further declines are likely in line with falling prices of DVD players, he said.