In-Stat’s (News - Alert) Multimedia Entertainment Equipment service, which provides comprehensive analysis and forecasts of the worldwide market for multimedia-enabled consumer electronics devices, including set top boxes, digital TVs and personal video recorders, has indicated a growing popularity in IP video.

According to recent In-Stat research, which covers the worldwide market for cable TV set top boxes, with special emphasis on product manufacturers market and technology trends, and the semiconductor content of the boxes, the traditional mode of sending digital video signals has been displaced by the cheaper and more efficient IP video.

Apart from the cost factor, operators and providers realized that the integrated DOCSIS cable modem was an underutilized part of the digital cable set top box. The availability of IP video was expanding exponentially from user-generated content to telco TV service provider video and an increasing number of “over-the-top” types of programming.

"When it comes to IP transport, the cable modem is the perfect conduit of IPTV (News - Alert) to the cable TV household,” said Principal Analyst Mike Paxton, and added that cable modems were already performing this task not through the STB, but by using IP video.

Recent research by In-Stat also predicted an increase in the percentage of cable set top boxes with integrated modem, while digital cable set top box units shipments would decline in 2010.The value of semiconductor components used in cable set top box products was $2.8 billion in 2009, marginally higher than in 2008.

The report also deals with revenue forecasts updated through 2014, and 2009 market shares for digital cable set top box manufacturers. Companies mentioned in the report included the big giants like Cisco systems, Samsung, Panasonic (News - Alert) and others. Other related In-Stat research was also conducted.