The number of pay-TV subscribers in Asia owning a 4K set top box reached 53.6 million at the end of 2017. according to Dataxis.
As at date, more than 30 pay-TV operators have launched 4K set-top-boxes in Asia.
The South Korean IPTV operators, Korea Telecom, LGU Plus, SK Broadband and Tbroad were the first to launch 4K STBs on the market in the third quarter of 2014. They were then joined by other operators in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia.
However, China and South Korea are the two countries that have launched broader offers. For instance, in China, a dozen of cable operators as well as the three main IPTV players have launched their 4K boxes since the beginning of 2015. On the other hand, in South Korea, 10 operators offer UHD receivers. Dataxis estimates that the penetration of Pay TV subscribers with 4K boxes in this country stands above 15% of total digital pay-TV subscribers in Q4 2017, based on a growth rate of 20% QoQ in average. The latter represent the highest penetration rate observed in the region.
