China– Irdeto has announced the successful integration of Irdeto Rights for China DRM with HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd.’s trusted execution environment (TEE) hardware for its chipsets. This integration will give operators in China and content owners more control and confidence to launch premium content services, especially Hollywood studio early release and 4K/UHD content, and is the first hardware-protected ecosystem for China DRM in the industry. For this type of premium content to be delivered on cable or satellite TV networks as well as smart TVs, TEE integration is a mandatory requirement.

China will account for more than half of Asia Pacific’s 666 million pay TV subscribers by 2022, and is expected to add 40 million subscribers between 2016 and 2022, according to a research by Digital TV Research. The research also projected that China will bring in an estimated $1.1 billion in pay TV revenues between 2016 and 2022.

“It is essential for operators and content owners to invest in the highest form of security for 4K/UHD content to meet the growing demand for premium content,” said John Liu, General Manager, HiSilicon STB Product Line. “Our partnership with Irdeto will not only help operators in China meet the stringent requirements of Hollywood studios, but also drive greater confidence for the studios and content providers to expand in the Chinese market. Security can help generate greater revenues from premium content offerings.”

“Our collaboration with HiSilicon ushers in a world-class level of security for delivery platforms in China, and accelerates the release of premium content services that the Chinese audiences are demanding,” said Marco Xie, General Manager, China, Irdeto. “Irdeto is proud to lead the way in the Chinese market with the industry’s first hardware-protected ecosystem for China DRM and we hope that this will encourage more operators in China and content owners to participate in this thriving business of offering premium content services.”

As part of the Irdeto 360 security suite, Irdeto launched Irdeto Rights for China DRM, the first-ever Chinese government-approved and Hollywood studios-validated DRM solution last year. It is uniquely offered together with Irdeto TraceMark  forensic watermarking and is fully compliant with the standards of The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China (SAPPRFT). With Irdeto’s support of the first hardware-protected ecosystem for China DRM, operators are able to securely offer consumers access to premium content.