The Weekly News Update is a weekly roundup of business news from around the Asia-Pacific region, covering Fusion Consulting's core industry practices: chemicals, consumer & retail, financial services, industrial & logistics, information & communication technology, life science and media & leisure. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.     2008 Asia-Pacific pay-TV operators survey, 4th edition   Programmers, find out what the major cable, satellite and IPTV platforms in Asia  and Australia think about your channels and support, their programming plans and  their hopes and fears for the future of the industry. This survey targets  programming managers at 50 major carriers in 16 countries across the region,  focusing on the largest players in each country. In cooperation with ContentAsia.  Request more information. Media & leisure

China - Online game market hit US$1.8 billion in 2007 Source: Xinhua News Agency, 15 March 2008 China's online game market surged 66.7% year-on-year to hit RMB12.8 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2007. Shanda ranked the first with a market share of 19.3% while the runner-up Netease took 15.1%, followed by Giant Interactive Group who took 11.9%. iResearch predicts China's online game market will hit RMB19.1 billion (US$2.7 billion) in 2008 and RMB40.1 billion (US$5.7 billion) in 2011. Meanwhile, Giant Interactive Group has partnered Huawei Technologies to research server platforms for online game applications. The research partnership with Huawei will further extend Giant's competitive strengths in terms of server technology. China - China has world's biggest internet population Source: TelecomAsia, 14 March 2008 China has overtaken the United States in the number of online users to become the world's largest internet market. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) says China's internet users numbered 210 million at year-end 2007, while Nielsen/NetRatings put the United States total at 216 million. Beijing-based consultancy BDA says that by now China will have "comfortably surpassed" the United States as the biggest market by user numbers. BDA says the United States still far outstrips China in the value of internet content, advertising and e-commerce, but expects e-commerce to become the next boom sector in China as businesses and retailers take advantage of the mass market of consumers already online. India - Telecom firms face uphill climb in IPTV Source: TelecomAsia, 13 March 2008 Indian telecom firms, seeking to increase revenue and stimulate demand by offering IPTV services, face hurdles of high costs. IOL Netcom and Aksh Optifibre are battling high costs as television broadcasters charge telecom companies much more than cable operators for programme feeds. IOL and Aksh have tied up with MTNL in Mumbai and Delhi and with BSNL in other areas to provide IPTV services on the state-owned carriers' broadband network. Another big hurdle to popularising IPTV is the low broadband penetration. TRAI figures show India's broadband subscriber base at 3.24 million at the end of January 2008, with less than one million new users added between April 2007 and January 2008. View an example of our experience in this industry. Back to list of articles.  Visit our website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

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