DESPITE A GENERAL MATURATION in the set top box market, there are still segments of the business that are innovating and growing at fairly significant rates. According to new research from In-Stat, the IP set top box market segment is still going strong, with unit shipments expected to surpass 21 million this year.
The report Worldwide IP Set Top Boxes says that IP set top box growth will be driven by new telco TV subscribers, and pay-TV providers who chose to begin using them.
“The recent up-tick in IP set top boxes is a result of telcos gaining subscribers from cable and satellite providers, as well as replacing the boxes of current subscribers,” said research director Michelle Abraham, in the report’s news release. “Future increases for IP set top box shipments will likely be driven by service providers moving to a server/client architecture where there is a media gateway/server located in the media room of the house that shares its content with client boxes that are distributed throughout the rest of the home. These client boxes will be IP STBs. DirectTV is one of the first providers to offer this service, but In-Stat expects that others will follow over the next few years.”
Other highlights from the report include:
– The IP set top box market is expected to grow 14% in 2011;
– Motorola remained the market share leader in 2010 with 21% of the market;
– North American IP STB unit shipments will increase 48% in 2012; and
– In 2013, Western Europe will account for 46% of worldwide IP STB revenues.
