Over ninety million digital set-top boxes will be sold in 2009, up from just over fifty million in 2004, with IP and terrestrial seeing the biggest growth over the next five years.
IMS Research reports that the market for digital set-top boxes and integrated digital televisions continued to grow in 2004.
“Digital television services are being vastly deployed on a worldwide basis,” commented Anna Hunt, market analyst at IMS Research. “Not only are we seeing new digital platforms throughout regions like Europe and Asia Pacific, but existing operators are expanding their digital services to include HD, DVR and interactive features, thus requiring deployment of more advanced set-top boxes.”
Global take-up of digital cable services is expected to be quicker than that of digital satellite during the next five years, as satellite penetration peaks. Although forecast to account for a quarter of boxes shipped in 2009, Internet Protocol TV or IPTV and digital terrestrial segments are likely to experience the strongest growth in subscribers and set-top box deployments during the same period.
The annual IMS Research study, Worldwide Market for Digital Set-top Boxes and iDTVs, examines the digital television marketplace in 60 countries.