The set-top box market (STB) is set to defy the challenge of multiscreen, with global shipments of devices used to receive cable, satellite, terrestrial and IPTV digital TV services set to rise to 269 million this year.
According to the latest IHS Set-Top Box Market Monitor report, this will be 8% more than the figure recorded in 2012.
What is more, the upward trend is likely to continue into 2014 (286 million, +6%) and 2015 (290 million, +1%), when the market will peak, at least for the foreseeable future.
Interestingly, the multiscreen phenomenon should help boost the STB market during the next few years, as operators offer multimedia home gateway (MHG) STBs that can deliver services to PCs, smartphones, tablets and other devices, supporting the operator-as-an-app model.
In mature markets where pay-TV digitisation is complete or nearly finished, the transition to HD and MHG STBs will help to sustain volumes and increase revenue in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Also the gradual migration to HD is continuing, with 2014 expected to be the first year when more than 50% of pay-TV boxes shipped globally can support HD.
These developments will allow STB industry revenue to grow to $22.2 billion in 2013, making it the most valuable year in the history of the market.
Further in the future, the STB market will get a boost from the rollout of Ultra High Definition (UHD) services.
Volume growth for the STB market during the next few years will be driven by demand for more basic models, which are sold to support cable digitisation in India. Shipments also will be propelled by terrestrial TV digitisation in Central and Eastern Europe as well as South and Central America.
After hitting a record high in 2015, global STB shipments are expected to start to decline, decreasing by 5% in 2016 and by another 2% in 2017.
Pace shipped 11.3% of all pay-TV STB unit shipments in 2012, retaining its status as the world’s largest vendor. Technicolor meanwhile increased its shipments by almost 5 million units in 2012, allowing it to leapfrog Motorola and take second place in the market.
Growth in shipments was also a key driver in Cisco’s 2013 success, which saw it become the largest pay-TV STB vendor in terms of revenue.
However, the now-consolidated STB businesses Arris and Motorola yielded combined pay-TV STB revenue that was larger than Cisco’s in 2012.
