NDS plans to triple its investment in local people and infrastructure in 2010 as it increases development of solutions, partnerships and services for customers in China and the rest of the world.

Earlier this year NDS announced it had increased its headcount by 73 per cent in China in 12 months, reflecting strong demand for its products and services locally. Staff numbers will increase further in 2010, with local hires as well as the relocation of a percentage of existing NDS R&D resource from India and Israel.

NDS has identified a key growth opportunity through partnerships with Chinese companies in the consumer electronics space, semiconductors, systems integration, and digital-TV applications markets. For example, NDS has already partnered with Changhong, a leading set-top box and CE manufacturer, to develop a range of interactive applications for the Chinese market, targeted at convergence and the Next Generation Broadband (NGB) initiative. NDS will market these applications to other regions, as part of a drive to increase export opportunities for Chinese CE and STB manufacturers. NDS is also partnering with leading value-added TV service provider DOXTV, to bring DVR and push VOD functionality in China.

Just over a year ago, NDS opened an R&D centre in China, engineering and customer support facility in Shenzhen. With this new investment, NDS will increase employee numbers at the R&D facility as well as increasing its presence in locations that are close to customers, including in Beijing and Shanghai.

“We believe that Chinese digital-TV technology will have a major impact on the global pay-TV market, as other countries start to seek out Chinese knowledge, experience and products. We already have significant resources in China, and accelerating our investment now and in the future allows us to rapidly increase our support for the dynamic and growing Chinese digital-TV market,” said Sue Taylor, Chairman, NDS China, Senior Vice President and General Manager Asia Pacific.

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