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Cable TV turns increasingly towards GaAs

The market for GaAs-based components in cable TV applications will grow 18 percent per year according to market research firm Strategy Analytics.

The transition from analog to digital TV will drive the GaAs-based semiconductor content in cable TV (CATV) from $20 million in 2004 to $47 million in 2009. That's according to Asif Anwar, director of Strategy Analytics' GaAs and compound semiconductor technologies service.

The chips are used in system amplifiers and line extenders to amplify signals in cable networks. For this application, GaAs has advantages over silicon in terms of linearity and performance at high frequencies.

The superiority of GaAs will enable cable operators to deliver a greater choice of channels, as well as improved formats, such as high-definition (HD) TV, says Anwar.

Signal amplification is achieved either with GaAs-based MMICs, or hybrid devices with both silicon and GaAs content.

The North America and Asia Pacific regions will drive CATV infrastructure rollout, says Anwar, and account for 89 percent of new digital CATV subscribers in 2009.

"North America will lead the world in the move to HDTV. Delivering this content via cable will require an upgraded network," added Anwar. "Asia-Pacific will be driven specifically by China, which has ambitious targets for digital TV rollout."

According to Anwar, the move towards GaAs technology could hurt component suppliers still biased towards silicon bipolar technology. These suppliers could risk losing market share unless they expand their GaAs portfolio. Anwar predicts that the market for silicon semiconductors in CATV will grow at a compound annual growth rate of only 3% through 2009.

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