A new report says the cable set-top box market grew in 2009, but warned that 2010 was on pace to see an 8 percent downturn in digital STB shipments, the first negative growth since 2002.
In-Stat said Motorola, Cisco Systems, and Technicolor (formerly Thomson) were the top three digital cable set top box manufacturers in total unit shipments last year, but also said the combined market share of the top three manufacturers dropped from its 2008 50-percent share of total worldwide unit shipments to 41 percent.
Still, the report said, some markets, like Europe and Latin America, would see growth in 2010, fueled by demand for HD STBs and the shift from analog to digital, respectively.
"Even in a soft year, the cable set top box market continues to offer solid growth opportunities for cable set top box manufacturers," says Mike Paxton, Principal Analyst. "This is particularly true if manufacturers target emerging regional markets or if they focus on high-margin product categories like HD or PVR-enabled cable set top boxes."
In contrast, a recent iSuppli report said the global set-top box market should expand nearly 200 percent, from 19.4 million units and revenues of $2.9 billion in 2009, to some 58 million units and projected revenues of $6.2 billion by 2014.
The report says the CAGR for sales of IPTV STBs is 25 percent, and forecasts a revenue CAGR of 16 percent.
A new study from SNL Kagan also released today showed that the IPTV industry saw Q2 growth in excess of 414,000 subscribers, while the cable industry--including six of the eight operators surveyed--lost subscribers to the tune of 711,000. It was cable's worst quarter ever in terms of subscribers lost.
For more:
- see this release
Related articles:
iSuppli: STB shipments increasing
In-Stat also saw the STB market lifting
ABI last year liked the outlook for IP STBs