Due to a highly competitive cable market, traditionally risk-averse cable operators are becoming increasingly “bipolar,” supporting a roadmap that may require the deployment of new set-top boxes (STBs) with more advanced features and functions, while also aiming to drive the ubiquitous STB to extinction.

 

Meanwhile, in an effort to attract operators, STB vendors are offering a variety of new features. In the past, operators have been cautious when it comes to STBs, and have not wanted to “shop around” much for new technologies.

 

According to ABI Research (News - Alert) analyst Paulhwa Lee, “Because some operators are facing stiffer competition, they are now willing to experiment a little more, venturing into offerings such as Electronic Program Guides, wireless support, home networking support for MOCA or HomePlug, and expanded hard drives – all at increasingly affordable prices.”

 

There is also a growing trend toward partnerships and consolidation. An example of this is seen with STB giant Motorola, when it acquired a Chinese STB vendor, Dahua Digital. Other instances include decoder manufacturer, Broadcom (News - Alert), partnering with Chinese STB vendor Coship; and decoder manufacturer, NXP, acquiring Conexant’s STB operations.

 

Some operators are also partnering with new STB manufacturers. As the U.S. market grows, subscriber growth slows and evolves towards STB replacement. STB sales may still be driven by one-off developments such as the CableCARD mandate, the digital to analog transition, and the unification of data and video. But operators know that these transitions are CAPEX-intensive.

 

Every chance they get, operators are trying to standardize and commoditize STBs by formulating standards and consortia such as tru2way and CableLabs (News - Alert), so many STB manufacturers are looking to fresh markets in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

 

Technology market research firm, ABI Research,  has released newly updated Set-top Box Market Forecasts (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_data/Set-Top_Box_Market_ Data). The information covers all kinds of STBs, including those for IPTV, satellite, cable, and digital terrestrial TV. For each, the product forecasts, shipments, average selling price, market value through 2013. It also contains data on CATV and IP gateways, decoders, and subscribers.