Hybrid set-top boxes are an increasingly important part of the worldwide set-top box market and In-Stat is predicting that over 100 million such devices will be shipped in 2015.
“As the STB industry continues its forward march, the next logical iteration is for the set top box to enhance and expand traditional TV-related services by permitting access to content from the Internet, or from Internet-like web services that provide a ‘walled garden’ of authorised content,” says Gerry Kaufhold, research director, In-Stat. “By combining traditional TV services with ‘enhancements’ that come in via broadband, content owners and service providers think they can successfully compete with all the emerging over-the-top approaches.”
Satellite hybrids are anticipated to represent some 58% of the hybrid market in 2013 – already Deutsche Telekom is using hybrid boxes as part of a combined IPTV/satellite strategy – while over 23 million hybrid STBs will ship in North America in 2012.
The In-Stat research is part of a new report Worldwide Hybrid Set Top Boxes, now available.
