Motorola buys Chinese digital cable set-top assets

SHANGHAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Communications equipment maker Motorola Inc (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it had acquired the assets of two Chinese firms in the digital cable set-top product sector, as it seeks to expand its product range in China.

Motorola said in a statement that it had acquired the assets of Zhejiang Dahua Digital Technology Co Ltd, and Hangzhou Image Silicon, known collectively as Dahua Digital.

It did not disclose financial details.

Dahua Digital is a privately held, developer, manufacturer, and marketer of cable set-top boxes and related low-cost integrated circuits for the emerging Chinese cable business, Motorola added. "130 million Chinese households currently subscribe to cable, and as customers make the transition from traditional analog solutions to digital cable, digital cable subscriptions in China are expected to grow from 10 million in 2006 to over 165 million by 2016," saidSimon Leung, president of Motorola Asia Pacific, in a statement.

The purchase was the latest by Motorola in an area that it sees with large potential in China. In 2004, it spent about $30 million to buy control of Hong Kong's DVN (Holdings) Ltd (0500.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which sells digital broadcasting equipment and services in China.

China has said it plans to completely cut off its analog signal broadcasting by 2015. (Reporting by Sophie Taylor; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)