Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. will ride into the National Show on a high after snagging the crown in cable-modem sales for the first
quarter, according to a cable-equipment-analyst firm's report.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company claimed the lead with 430,000 cable modems
shipped in the quarter, with sales of its Data Over Cable Service Interface
Specification 'PCX' modem lineup rising 26 percent compared with the fourth
quarter of 2001.
Analyst firm Kinetic Strategies Inc., which tracks cable-modem sales,
estimated that the total was good enough to claim 29.3 percent of the North
American cable-modem market.
Toshiba pushed ahead of longtime leader Motorola Inc., which saw its
cable-modem sales plummet 50 percent in the quarter, shipping 330,000 units,
according to the Kinetic report.
Toshiba executives said the higher sales are a result of record demand among
national retail outlets and increased shipments to cable MSOs. The fact that the
company claimed the first DOCSIS 1.1-certified modem late last year also
helped.
'Our status as the first cable-modem vendor to achieve DOCSIS 1.1
certification has allowed our sales team to continue their success in selling to
the MSOs,' said Christopher Breceda, director of sales for Toshiba's
network-products division, in a release.
'Toshiba NPD's retail strategy has really paid off, as well,' he added. 'We
have had consistent growth in retail, and we have seen 15 percent to 20 percent
of our units sell through the retail channel. We expect that ratio to climb in
2002.'
