Weak Economy Helps Lift Lower-End Set-top Box Market in Third Quarter of 2009

Huawei Gaining Momentum in IPTV STB Market

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the networking and telecommunications industries, reported today that the worldwide Set-top Box (STB) market fell 10 percent sequentially during the third quarter of this year to $2.6 billion.

“The global economic recession, with its shrinking incomes, high unemployment, and tight credit market, has resulted in significantly less home construction and fewer residential home moves, causing pay-TV operators to struggle to gain gross subscriber additions,” said Greg Collins, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “Consumers, now faced with less disposable income, are more apt to choose less expensive, lower-tier services, thus boosting the low-end set-top box market,” Collins added.

During the third quarter, vendors like Motorola and Cisco, who both have a high degree of exposure to the North American market, saw large contractions in IP STB unit shipments due to the decline in net subscriber additions. In China, Huawei continued its strong growth putting more pressure on ZTE and UTStarcom. ZTE however, retained its grip on being the third largest vendor in the worldwide IP STB market.

About the Report

The Dell’Oro Group Set-top Box Quarterly Report offers complete, in-depth coverage of the market with worldwide and regional tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, units shipped, and average selling prices for cable, satellite, IP set-top boxes and standalone digital video recorders (DVRs). The report tracks performance of key vendors, including Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Amino, Cisco Systems, Echostar, Humax, Motorola, Pace plc, Samsung, Thomson, and UTStarcom (among others).