Output of cables and assemblies from manufacturers in mainland China is projected to grow by 16.8% in 2006, says a new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com), a market research firm based in Dublin, Ireland.

Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are home to about 1,150 manufacturers of cables and assemblies. The report says that China alone is set to ramp up this year’s production by more than 30% to meet the demands of consumer electronics, computing, and telecommunication industries.

The report forecasts shipments of fiber-optic cables to grow from $1.2 billion in 2005 to $4 billion by 2010, with the highest growth application coming from data centers, according to analysis of the market for high performance structured cabling systems. Shipments of coaxial cables also grew by approximately 15% in 2005 despite intense competition from other data transmission cables, according the report.

Also, in mainland China, the cable and assembly industry is expected to grow significantly as the country’s multi-channel TV sector is projected to reach $7.3 billion by 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate of 12.5% for cable, satellite, and IP video on aggregate.

The firm concludes that, due to a “low technological threshold,” the cable and assembly industry is now a “mature industry” where the majority of the manufacturers “have been around for at least a decade.”

Research and Markets’ China Sourcing Report: Cables & Assemblies profiles 84 key manufacturers of cables and assemblies in greater China, covering production issues and upcoming product trends, including RoHS compliance. The report covers coaxial, fiber-optic, flat-ribbon, spiral, RCA, DVI, RF, SCART, Cat 5e, DIN, and Cat 6 cables, as well as cable ties/restrainers.