Satellite STBs Surge in Q2

Video Infrastructure Market Rebounds

BOSTON — Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from 2 recent video reports, Video-on-Demand (VOD) and Encoder Equipment and Video Subscribers, which tracks equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video providers, and Set-Top Boxes and Subscribers, which tracks IP, cable, satellite, and hybrid set-top boxes (STBs) and over-the-top (OTT) media servers.

ANALYST NOTE

“Thanks to a 7% increase in encoder spending by North American cable and satellite operators, the global video infrastructure market saw a return to growth in the second quarter,” notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “The market continues to be driven by cable and satellite operators upgrading their encoding infrastructure to support more high-definition channels and unicast video-on-demand content.”

Heynen adds: “Meanwhile, satellite set-top boxes surged in Q2, with global shipments up 20% and revenue up 19% sequentially. The biggest growth is coming from the Asia Pacific region, particularly China, but growth is also strong in Latin America and North America, where DIRECTV and Dish Network are seeing sustained subscriber growth and renewed interest in higher-function STBs like Dish’s Hopper.”

SET-TOP BOX MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• The global set-top box market, including cable, satellite, IP and hybrid IP/DTT, totaled $3.6 billion in 2Q12, up 4% sequentially
• While revenue was up for satellite set-top boxes in 2Q12, it was down for both IP and cable boxes
• 40% of all STBs shipped in 2Q12 had high-definition (HD) capabilities and 22% had DVR functionality
• Apple TV is the most prominent over-the-top media server platform in North America and, increasingly, the world
• After 2 consecutive quarters of growth, cable STB revenue in North America declined 10%
• Despite a 2% drop in revenue from the previous quarter, Cisco took the worldwide set-top box revenue share lead from perennial #1 Motorola

SET-TOP BOX REPORT SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ quarterly STB and Subscribers report provides worldwide and regional market share, size, forecasts, analysis, and trends for IP STBs, cable STBs, satellite STBs, hybrid IP/DTT, and OTT media servers, and video subscribers. Companies tracked: Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Amino, Cisco, Coship, Dasan, DVN, Echostar, Huawei, Humax, Jiuzhou, Motorola, Netgem, Pace plc, Sagemcom, Samsung, Skyworth Digital, Sumitomo, Technicolor, ZTE, others.

VOD AND ENCODER MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• The global video infrastructure market, including IPTV, cable, and satellite video infrastructure, totaled $199.5 million in 2Q12, up 5% from the year-ago 2nd quarter
• Telco IPTV, cable, and satellite subscriber growth continues unabated in Latin America and Asia Pacific:
  • There is sustained investment in Brazil to build up capabilities ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics
  • A national effort is underway in China to increase the availability of digital services in rural provinces
• Huawei and ZTE dominate the VOD and streaming content server market, together accounting for more than half of worldwide revenue in 2Q12
• The top 3 cable video service operators by subscribers are Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Jiangsu Cable TV
• Many cable operators devote at least 2/5 of their total annual capex to set-top box upgrades

VOD AND ENCODER REPORT SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ quarterly VOD and Encoder Equipment and Video Subscribers report provides worldwide and regional market share, size, forecasts, analysis, and trends for telco IPTV, cable video and satellite video infrastructure and subscribers. Companies tracked: Anevia, ARRIS, Cisco Systems, Concurrent, Edgeware, Ericsson, Harmonic Inc., Huawei, Motorola, OptiBase, Thomson Video Networks, UTStarcom, ZTE, others.