Operators Name Cisco Top Dog in IP Set-Top Boxes

CAMPBELL, Calif. — Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its Hybrid IP Set-Top Box Features and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, which captures service providers’ requirements for hybrid IP-based set-top boxes (STBs) to deliver video services.

ANALYST NOTE

“In a change from the 2011 edition of our IP set-top box survey, Cisco is now perceived as the overall top IP set-top box supplier by operators, while Motorola was top dog last year,” notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research. “This is consistent with our set-top box market share reporting, where Cisco has led in global IP STB revenue share for 4 straight quarters. Clearly Cisco’s efforts over the past year to expand its IP set-top box lineup and customer base, and the major contracts it has scored with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and Telus, are paying off.”

SET-TOP BOX SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

• 94% of service providers participating in Infonetics’ survey use IP STBs to deliver video services
• Carriers identified the top 3 critical IP STB applications as video on demand (VOD), electronic program guide (EPG), and whole-home DVR
• STB social networking capabilities (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) were not rated highly by survey respondents
• Ethernet is the leading technology for connecting STBs to home networks and sharing media with other devices, followed by 802.11n and universal plug and play (UPnP)
• Increases in HD programming and time-shifted viewing are placing greater storage burdens on the STB: 71% of operator respondents believe they will need more than 500G of hard drive capacity by 2013
• Cisco and Motorola are tied as the most installed IP STB suppliers among carriers, followed by Amino

ABOUT THE SURVEY

For its Hybrid IP Set-Top Box survey, Infonetics interviewed purchase decision-makers at incumbent carriers from North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific about preferred IP STB features, IP STB tuners, home networking and media sharing technologies, IP STB hard drive capacity, and manufacturers (vendors installed and under evaluation, the “top three IP STB suppliers,” and familiarity level with various manufacturers). IP STB vendors named by service providers in response to survey questions include Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Amino, ARRIS, Cisco Systems, Huawei, Humax, Motorola, Netgem, Pace plc, Samsung, Skyworth, Technicolor, and others.