Despite a quarter-over-quarter decline in the global set-top box market, all major segments are up from this time a year ago in both revenue and shipments, indicating that the pay-TV market is rebounding after two years of significant declines, a report said.
Market research firm Infonetics Research in the report also said in the first quarter of 2011, evidence continued to mount that operators are in the early stages of implementing hybrid IP networks that offer the best of both OTT (over-the-top) and on-demand services combined with linear broadcast.
“As such, the hybrid segment of the market will experience the strongest growth over the next few years,”said Teresa Mastrangelo, directing analyst for video at Infonetics Research.
The report further said the global set-top box market declined 10.2% in the first quarter to $3.1 billion, primarily attributed to normal seasonal trends.
The cable STB segment continues to contract as subscriber growth remains limited across the lucrative North America and EMEA markets and demand slows for advanced services; as such, the cable STB segment experienced the strongest sequential revenue declines, down 12.9% in the first quarter, the report said.
Lower than expected demand for IPTV services in EMEA during the quarter resulted in strong declines in shipments into this region, causing an 11.7% drop in global IP STB revenue. Demand for OTT media services remained strong, but challenges lie ahead for this category, the report further said.