February 07, 2007
In-Stat Study Shows Increasing Demand for IP Set Top Boxes
By Patrick Barnard, Group Managing Editor, TMCnet
Now that Congress has mandated the complete phase out of analog television signals by 2009 – thus marking the beginning of the end of the era of “free” television programming – pretty much everyone in the US has resigned themselves – albeit in some cases reluctantly – to the fact that they will simply have to pay for their TV shows from here on out. This is coupled with the fact that the major telecommunications companies – AT&T (News - Alert) and Verizon, to name two of the largest – are now poised to deliver a new form of paid interactive television called IPTV
.
Seeing as how everyone will soon have no choice but to pay for their television, this means the cable and satellite companies – and particularly the big telcos – can expect to see a surge of new customers over the next two to three years. This is evidenced by a recent study from the market research firm In Stat, which shows the demand for IP set top boxes (the box you use to change channels - and which connects your television to the service provider’s network) has increased dramatically. In fact, the study predicts that the number of digital STBs worldwide will reach 19 million by 2010 - up from 4.3 million in 2006.
That might not seem like a lot, considering a world population of more than 6 billion, but on the other hand it shows more than four-fold growth for digital television, or IPTV (News - Alert), over the next three years. And for those in the IP communications space, that is a significant increase.
The study finds that although there are some new players in the IP Set Top Box space, the market has also seen considerable consolidation, and several new leaders have emerged, including Motorola (News - Alert) and Cisco.
“There was consolidation in 2006, with Motorola buying Kreatel and Cisco integrating Scientific Atlanta with Linksys and KiSS,” said Michelle Abraham, In-Stat (News - Alert) analyst, in a press release. “We see more definitive leaders emerging in IP set top boxes, though the leaders differ by geography.”
The study finds that regardless of these trends, the important features of an IP STB remain the same. These include the ability to deliver High Definition Television and the integration of Digital Video Recorders and digital terrestrial tuners. The study predicts that DVB-T tuners will soon be integrated into many boxes for Europe. In addition, vendors will be increasingly offering integrated home networking technologies, which connect things like home theater systems, security systems, phone systems and Internet service in such a way that they can all be centrally managed by a user.
As a natural function of supply and demand, STB prices are also expected decline, allowing the Bill of Materials (BOM) for an SD H.264 decode-capable box to drop from over $100 in 2005 to $54 by 2010. (H.264, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or Advanced Video Coding, is a digital video codec standard that is noted for achieving very high data compression.)
For more information about the study, entitled “IP Set Top Box Market: Done Waiting For H.264,” visit In Stat’s Web site at www.in-stat.com.
Don't forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
.Seeing as how everyone will soon have no choice but to pay for their television, this means the cable and satellite companies – and particularly the big telcos – can expect to see a surge of new customers over the next two to three years. This is evidenced by a recent study from the market research firm In Stat, which shows the demand for IP
set top boxes (the box you use to change channels - and which connects your television to the service provider’s network) has increased dramatically. In fact, the study predicts that the number of digital STBs worldwide will reach 19 million by 2010 - up from 4.3 million in 2006.That might not seem like a lot, considering a world population of more than 6 billion, but on the other hand it shows more than four-fold growth for digital television, or IPTV (News - Alert), over the next three years. And for those in the IP communications space, that is a significant increase.
The study finds that although there are some new players in the IP Set Top Box space, the market has also seen considerable consolidation, and several new leaders have emerged, including Motorola (News - Alert) and Cisco.
“There was consolidation in 2006, with Motorola buying Kreatel and Cisco integrating Scientific Atlanta with Linksys and KiSS,” said Michelle Abraham, In-Stat (News - Alert) analyst, in a press release. “We see more definitive leaders emerging in IP set top boxes, though the leaders differ by geography.”
The study finds that regardless of these trends, the important features of an IP STB remain the same. These include the ability to deliver High Definition Television and the integration of Digital Video Recorders and digital terrestrial tuners. The study predicts that DVB-T tuners will soon be integrated into many boxes for Europe. In addition, vendors will be increasingly offering integrated home networking technologies, which connect things like home theater systems, security systems, phone systems and Internet service in such a way that they can all be centrally managed by a user.
As a natural function of supply and demand, STB prices are also expected decline, allowing the Bill of Materials (BOM) for an SD H.264 decode-capable box to drop from over $100 in 2005 to $54 by 2010. (H.264, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or Advanced Video Coding, is a digital video codec standard that is noted for achieving very high data compression
.)For more information about the study, entitled “IP Set Top Box Market: Done Waiting For H.264,” visit In Stat’s Web site at www.in-stat.com.
Don't forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
-------
Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
