G.hn hits the Chinese retail market with listings on Alibaba and Taobao

In-home networking products based on the high performance, highly versatile G.hn standard have just become widely available on Chinese e-commerce sites, opening the technology to a huge new retail market.

Thanks to Chinese manufacturers Wondertek and Brightech, a range of new G.hn products are now available on-line in China and even finding their way onto the shelves of Chinese retailers. The products, powered by Marvell’s G.hn silicon, are now on the key e-commerce site Alibaba, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, and the consumer-to-consumer portal Taobao. Similar to eBay, Taobao is one of the top 20 most-visited websites in the world, representing some 80% of China’s online sales in September 2014.

The initial offerings are powerline-based products including G.hn powerline adapters which are attached via Ethernet to broadband gateways. G.hn is also being used to connect Blu-Ray players and set top boxes.  Very excitingly, G.hn is being embedded in IP-Networked HD TVs. Skyworth was the first company in the world to embed G.hn in a TV – the Skyworth E690C. G.hn’s true ‘plug and play’ nature means that users automatically get access to the Internet and other home network devices as soon as they plug their smart TV into an AC outlet.

Kai Liu, GM of Brightech said: “We are proud to be leading the world in offering G.hn powerline products for end users. Our strong eCommerce presence will help to push G.hn into the market quickly and the simple plug-and-play nature of the product means that we expect a significant take-up once consumers see how much G.hn products enhance the home networks.”

Youming Li, Chief Sales of Wondertek added: “G.hn has already proved its worth through service provider initiatives in China and we are confident that our online sales outlets through Taobao and Alibaba will help to drive demand from consumers eager to enhance their home networks with high speed networking and reliable, easy to install products.”

“G.hn is constantly growing in strength and acceptance as the industry begins to recognize its value,” said Donna Yasay, HomeGrid Forum’s president. “The results we are seeing in China come from the hard work of many people around the world and the drive of Chinese manufacturers, technology companies and service providers to get their customers the best technology available. It is great to see so many peoples’ vision becoming a reality and we predict that G.hn will go from strength to strength in the region – with retail and e-commerce now stocking G.hn products, there is no stopping us!”