Focus of home networking industry squarely on multiscreen video

CAMPBELL, California — Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Home Networking Devices report, which tracks residential gateways; broadband routers; multimedia over coax (MoCA) set-top boxes (STBs), optical network terminals (ONTs), and coax-Ethernet adapters; HomePlug STBs and Powerline adapters; and HPNA/G.hn adapters.

ANALYST NOTE

“Like broadband CPE, home networking devices continue to grow as fixed broadband subscribers increase around the globe. The types of services being delivered over data networks are growing as well, with the most important being multiscreen video,” notes Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research.

Heynen adds: “Operators in North America and Western Europe are deploying higher-end gateways and set-top boxes with integrated wireless and wired technologies to distribute video to multiple devices in the home, driving a secondary market of MoCA set tops and HomePlug adapters for connecting TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, and a growing list of peripherals to home networks.”

HOME NETWORKING MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• In China, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, the focus of home networking is first on expanding WiFi coverage, then quickly shifting to distributing multiscreen video
• Globally, home networking device revenue totaled $5.4 billion in the first half of 2013 (1H13), up 6% from the second half of 2012 (2H12)
• Multimedia over coax (MoCA) devices, which ship primarily in North America, once again drove revenue growth
• Residential gateway revenue increased 7% in 1H13 from 2H12, as operators more heavily rely on residential gateways to deliver managed services
• Operator-provided residential gateways continue to cannibalize retail routers: broadband router revenue and shipments declined in 1H13