PC TV Tuner Market Faces Myriad of New Challenges

Demand for PC-TV Tuners has fallen off from 2008’s level due to the worldwide economic recession, reports In-Stat. The market also faces fundamental challenges, including slow consumer demand, increased competition from online television and other programming sources, and lower prices due to a shift from hybrid analog/digital tuners to digital-only tuners. One hopeful development is that Microsoft’s Windows 7 and the new version of Media Center will include better connectivity solutions for PC-TV Tuners.

Opportunities for growth will be for hybrid analog/digital tuner manufacturers to increase share by lowering prices, or for new entrants to leapfrog the analog and hybrid segments by aggressively targeting the emerging digital-only segments, albeit with lower margins. Overall, selling PC TV tuners is going to be a tougher business going forward.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• 2009 unit shipments will see a net decline of nearly 11%. Moderate unit growth will resume in subsequent years, driven nearly exclusively by digital-only tuner shipments.
• Worldwide PC-TV Tuner revenue likely peaked in value during 2008, at about US$ 1.4 billion.
• The European region is by far the largest geographic market for PC TV Tuners, representing more than 50% of worldwide revenue.
• PC Tuner growth in Notebooks will significantly outpace other segments, which include desktops, retail sticks, and retail add-in cards.
• ATSC M&H mobile video in the US may create significant upside for digital-only tuners.

The research, “Global PC TV Tuners — A Solid Niche in Transition” (#IN0904546ME), covers the worldwide market for PC TV tuners. The report provides unit shipment forecasts for Digital-only, Hybrid, and Analog-only Tuners. It also provides forecasts for four usage models: laptops with tuners built in, desktops with tuners built in, USB and PC Card sticks sold at retail, and Add-in cards sold at retail.