TiVo Greater China is the separate company founded to market TiVo products in Taiwan, China, and other countries in the region. TiVo is a significant minority share holder in TGC. TGC also works with TiVo on new hardware designs. They’ve been offering TiVo in Taiwan for a while, and the first venture in China started last fall in Shanghai.
It looks like they’re going to greatly expand their efforts in China, marketing to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other major cities. China is a major emerging market, and there isn’t an established DVR player, so this could be a major market for TGC.
TGC has two sites for Taiwan and China.
The press release:
Jun 26, 2007 14:50 ET
PacificNet iMobile Partners with TiVo Greater China (TGC) to Market and Distribute Localized Video Products for the Chinese Market
* Phase 1 Includes Promotion of TiVo’s Localized Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
Products In 5 Major Chinese Cities
BEIJING, June 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — PacificNet, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACT) , a leading provider of gaming technology, e-commerce and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services in China, announced today that its subsidiary, PacificNet iMobile, has entered into an agreement with TiVo Greater China (TGC) to market their PVR/DVR products and services in China.
Under this agreement, PacificNet iMobile will promote and distribute TGC products in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou as well as other major cities in China. PacificNet iMobile will expand its marketing channel from online sales to user trial activities. Leveraging PacificNet iMobile’s ecommerce expertise in China and TGC’s advanced technology and sales support, the two companies will provide quality PVR/DVR products to consumers across China.
PVRs or Personal Video Recorders (also known as a “DVR” or Digital Video Recorders) improve home entertainment by providing consumers with an easy way to record, watch, and control television. DVR/PVR records broadcast television programming in a digital format on a hard disk drive rather than on a medium such as a VHS tape, allowing viewers to pause a live broadcast or replay video from a buffer, as well as the recording, timed-recording, and playback of their favorite television broadcasts.
Established in 1997, TiVo has experienced significant growth as its products have proven popular with consumers in many markets worldwide. TiVo devices have evolved steadily with many new features such as DVD recording, commercial skip capability, sharing of recordings over the Internet, and programming and remote control using PDAs, networked PCs, or Web browsers. TiVo can be set to auto-record according to a programming timetable with 80GB of memory for up to 90 hours of recording. TiVo’s many features have proven a complement and enhancement to the overall home entertainment experience.
PacificNet iMobile currently has about 200 staff in China and operates its e-commerce business via two internet portals, “www.iMobile.com.cn” and “www.18900.com”, and a WAP portal, “17wap.com”, for mobile phone browsing. iMobile has the largest mobile user community in China, with over 3.4 million registered users while “18900.com” is the leading Internet e-commerce distributor of mobile products in China with logistic centers and partners covering 25 provinces and 72 major cities throughout China and service coverage for 1875 cities in China. In addition, iMobile’s “18900.com” is the designated internet distributor for Motorola, Nokia, and NEC’s mobile products in China.
Liu Lei, PacificNet iMobile’s General Manager, stated, “We are pleased to become partners of TiVo Greater China (TGC) and to help them promote their products in mainland China. TGC PVR provides interactive personal entertainment services through existing broadband and cable TV networks. It enhances the traditional passive way of watching TV. With a PVR, viewers are no longer constrained by the timetable of TV programs as broadcast by TV stations. Instead, PVR users can view whatever they want, whenever they want to watch it. We will use our expertise to help TGC boost its sales and increase its popularity among consumers in China.”
“We believe that the opportunity to work with one of the leading consumer video electronics providers in the world is substantial,” said Victor Tong, President of PacificNet. “PacificNet iMobile has demonstrated its ability to support a wide range of online and offline marketing initiatives. With the growing demand for innovative consumer electronics in China, we feel that the potential to generate strong revenue from this relationship is significant. PacificNet iMobile’s nationwide e-commerce and customer service centers, covering 40 major cities in China represent an opportunity to enhance PacificNet’s e-commerce and CRM services network in China.”
About Tivo Greater China (TGC)
TiVo Greater China (TGC) is a close partner of TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) headquartered in California, USA, TGC has the exclusive operation right to provide TiVo-based Personal Video Recorder (PVR) services in the Greater China and Singapore region. TGC (Shanghai) Inc. is in charge of related business issues in China. With the technology, service expertise and operation know-how gained from TGC Inc.’s largest shareholder, TiVo Inc., TGC designs & manufactures new DVR platforms as well as integrating DVR functionality into other consumer electronics devices. TGC Inc. is the exclusive TiVo partner in the Greater China (China, Hong Kong, & Taiwan) and Singapore television entertainment markets. TiVo and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.
About PacificNet
PacificNet, Inc. (http://www.pacificnet.com/) is a leading provider of gaming technology, e-commerce, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in China. PacificNet’s gaming products are specially designed for Chinese and Asian gamers with focus on integrating localized Chinese and Asian themes and content, advanced graphics, digital sound effects and popular domestic music, with secondary bonus games and jackpots. PacificNet’s gaming clients include the leading hotels, casinos, and gaming operators in Macau, Asia, and Europe, while ecommerce and CRM clients include the leading telecom companies, banks, insurance, travel, marketing and business services companies and telecom consumers in Greater China such as China Telecom, China Mobile, Unicom, PCCW, Hutchison Telecom, Bell24, Motorola, Nokia, SONY, TCL, Huawei, American Express, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, DBS, TNT, China and Hong Kong government. PacificNet employs about 1,200 staff in its various subsidiaries throughout China with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macau and Zhuhai China, USA, and the Philippines.
Contact:
PacificNet USA office:
Jacob Lakhany, Tel: +1-605-229-6678
PacificNet Beijing office:
Ada Yu, Tel: +86 (10) 59225000
23rd Floor, Building A, TimeCourt, No.6 Shuguang Xili, Chaoyang District,
Beijing, China 100028
PacificNet Shenzhen Office:
Tel: +86 (10) 33222088
Room 4203, JinZhongHuan Business Center, Futian District, Shenzhen, China
518040
Source: PacificNet, Inc.
CONTACT: PacificNet USA office, Jacob Lakhany, +1-605-229-6678;
PacificNet Beijing office, Ada Yu, Tel: +86-10-59225000; PacificNet Shenzhen
Office, +86-10-33222088
Web site: http://www.pacificnet.com/
