SET-TOP BOXES MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Market Dynamics- Restraints

1. Rising competition from OTT services is expected to restrain growth of the global set-top boxes market during the forecast period

Increasing demand for internet-based services is posing major challenge for set-top box market. Increasing demand for Internet-based services is posing a challenge for the set-top box market. According to the Cisco VNI Index, the global Internet video traffic is expected to rise at a CAGR of 33% during 2014 to 2019 and is expected to reach 105.2 Exabytes per month. The demand for the internet-based connected devices is expected to boost OTT channel broadcasting in the near future. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Video Consumer Trend Report 2012, 20% of the respondents that were surveyed planned to eliminate or reduce their traditional TV package as the OTT services were cheaper than TV. Thus, these factors are expected to restrain growth of the global set-top boxes market during the forecast period.

2. Lack of awareness among end users is expected to hinder the global set-top boxes market growth over the forecast period

Despite its various advantages, there is a major lack of awareness about the set-top box. Many consumers, especially in emerging economies, are still using a conventional cable system. As a result of this, the demand for the set-top box is being hindered. Therefore, these factors are expected to hamper the global set-top boxes market growth over the forecast period.

Market Opportunity

1. Advent of HEVC decoder in set-top box can present lucrative growth opportunities

Some pay TV operators have started offering 3840 x 2160 (4K) and 7680 x 4320 (UHD/8K) to their subscribers, owing to the introduction of HD video. The 4K and 8K HD formats are creating high levels of video traffic which is creating problem for pay TV operators to provide more number of channels through transmission. The H.264 standard decoder provides more distortion in video image after decoding the video content in a set-top box. Thus, STB manufacturers are finding new ways to transmit the video content with less distortion. High-efficiency video coding (HEVC) is a video compression standard expected to see high level of adoption due to its high compression ability while maintaining the quality of the video.

2. Adoption of IPTV and hybrid STBs can provide major business opportunities

STB market is evolving due to increasing adoption of IPTV and hybrid STBs around the world. Due to wide adoption of Internet and broadband services in North America and Europe, the market for IPTV and hybrid STBs is expected to increase in coming years. Further, Asia Pacific is also expected to experience significant growth in adoption of IPTV and hybrid STBs due to increasing adoption of Internet service and increased spending capacity among its population. The digitization switchover in Latin America and Asia Pacific countries in coming years is expected to boost the market for cable and satellite STBs in these regions.