Sheng, who has served as Telegent’s Chief Technology Officer and executive Chairman of the Board since co-founding the company, intends to build on the company’s success to date in the mobile TV market, applying his product and technical expertise to define and execute the company’s market expansion strategy.
Sheng’s appointment coincides with a new milestone for the company which has realized significant uptake of its free to air analog mobile TV products, shipping a record 50 million mobile TV receivers since mid-2007.
Telegent’s products deliver a quality mobile TV viewing experience for analog broadcast standards, providing consumers around the world with mobile access to the same, live free to air programming that they receive on conventional TV sets. This business strategy of leveraging the existing analog broadcast TV ecosystem has propelled Telegent to the forefront of the mobile TV market, with analyst firm Forward Concepts predicting that more than half of the estimated 78 million broadcast TV handsets that will be sold in 2009 will incorporate Telegent’s mobile TV technology.
Sheng commented: “Since we introduced our first chip in 2007, Telegent has made significant strides towards creating a mass market for free to air mobile television. We are extending the value of live broadcast TV programming beyond the conventional television set to devices that provide consumers with more choice and convenience in how, where and when they watch live broadcast television. This adds value to the entire free to air broadcast TV ecosystem, including consumers, broadcasters and operators.”
“More than 85% of mobile TV handsets shipped in 2009 will deliver TV as a free to air feature,” said Will Strauss, principal analyst at Forward Concepts. “With its initial focus on analog standards, Telegent has been able to combine a globally available standard with a business model for mobile TV that has strong appeal for consumers. This approach is enabling the mobile phone to truly serve as a convergence device for communications and entertainment.”
In tandem with Sheng’s appointment, Dr. Weijie Yun, the driving force behind Telegent since co-founding the company with Sheng in 2004, will take up Sheng’s prior post of executive Chairman of the Board and carry operational responsibility for key strategic initiatives.