IPTV set-top box sales to enjoy strong growth to 2010

February 4, 2008 – The IPTV set-top box (STB) market in North America and Europe will enjoy strong growth up to the end of this decade in North America and Europe, according to a new report from Light Reading Insider.

IPTV set-top box revenues for the two regions are expected to total $765mn by 2010, and cumulative shipments are expected to reach over $3.2bn between 2007 and 2011, according to the report.  The report goes on to say that individual STB vendors must work hard to open up their share of an increasingly fragmented market.  A trend towards market convergence, with satellite STBs gaining IP capability and IPTV STBs gaining DTT capability, means that more vendors are entering into competition with each other.

“The North American and European markets for IPTV STBs showed strong growth during 2007, with an estimated 4.5mn boxes shipped,” said Simon Sherrington, research analyst for Light Reading Insider.  “Sales of IPTV STBs are forecast to continue to grow in volume and value across two regions through 2010, as more service providers launch their IPTV services.”

As consumers increasingly demand high-definition services and personal video recorder (PVR) capability, the key for vendors will be capturing an increasing proportion of contracts to supply operators with STBs capable of delivering these features at competitive prices, as Light Reading Insider notes that these will be the two “primary” drivers.  “Telcos will have to aggressively deploy HD-capable STBs to match competitive offerings from cable and satellite providers,” added Sherrington.

The research also notes that home networking is lining up to be a “key battleground” for all types of service providers, as vendors work on solutions that open up access to viewing content from all types of devices such as games consoles, mobile phones, PCs and portable devices, as well as integrating Internet access and communications functions.  The research adds that many service providers haven’t really thought out their home-networking strategy.