Telecom Lead India: Global set-top box (STB) shipment to grow 15 percent to touch 250 million in 2012.
Global Information Inc said demand for digital set-top box products is rising, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and a number of countries in Europe.
The expansion of pay-TV services in developing markets, along with the ongoing shift from standard-definition products to high-definition products in developed markets, is fueling market demand.
However, the market for set-top boxes faces significant challenges, particularly virtualization of the set-top box.
Set-top box virtualization could shift the functionality of the set-top box into a software platform or even the Internet cloud. However, these challenges will not have a material impact on the market for another three to five years.
Some of the trends include: Boxee and Slingbox will soon release new innovative products into the competitive set-top box market. Virtualization is poised to change the dynamics of this previous-stale industry.
This report discusses and analyses demand drivers and product development trends in all four digital set-top box market segments: cable, satellite, IPTV, and terrestrial. It also identifies leading set-top box vendors and details near-term market trends that are currently shaping the set-top box market.
As the largest pay-TV market in world, China has become a hotbed of activity for set-top box deployments and product development.
In 2011, over 42 million set-top boxes shipped in China, and MRG expects the total to exceed 90 million in 2015. While there are enormous opportunities for both set-top box manufacturers and component vendors in the Chinese market, there are also significant challenges facing vendors trying to penetrate the market.
In August 2012, TelecomLead.com reported that 94 percent of service providers participating in Infonetics’ survey use IP STBs to deliver video services. Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research, said Cisco is now perceived as the overall top IP set-top box supplier by operators, while Motorola was top dog last year.
