Set-top box shipments to SAARC countries — (Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) jumped 20% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2015, reaching 4.38 million units valued at $96 million.
According to Dataxis, India led in STB shipments during the period, accounting for about 94% of the total shipments to the SAARC region in Q2. That said, however, research also found that the quantity of STB shipments to the country in the first semester of 2015 has declined compared to the same period a year ago.
Local manufacturing in India, which accounted for just 5% of total STBs sold during the first and second phase of seeding, is showing steady growth in the third phase. Dataxis estimates that the sale of made-in-India STBs will see growth of up to 15% in the fourth phase of digitization.
“Local manufacturing in India, which got a shot in the arm with the Indian government’s make-in-India initiative, is slowly picking up as indigenous brands are signing deals with MSOs in third and fourth stage,” says Dataxis analyst Sreeja Vn.
Airtel Digital TV, Dish DTH and Videocon D2H — the three major DTH players — have announced plans to focus on deploying indigenous brands, which will give a boost to domestic manufacturing of STBs in India.
The first half of the 2015 also witnessed the DTH players partnering with Indian brands to source STBs manufactured indigenously.