According to ABI Research, the worldwide set-top box video system on chip (SoC) market will generate $2.4 billion in 2019, a 5% decline from 2018, including revenue from cable, satellite, terrestrial and IPTV set-top box SoCs.
The increasing popularity of video streaming services has been putting pressure on worldwide pay TV services.
"Cord-cutters have a wide variety of streaming services and video streaming boxes that don't require a set-top box from a pay TV service provider, which is contributing to the decline in set-top box chipset shipments over the past few years," said Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst at ABI.
The decrease in average selling prices, as well as unit shipments, is creating many challenges for set-top box IC makers. Broadcom has the largest share of the market followed by MediaTek, MaxLinear, and Ali. The set-top box IC market is expected to be driven by the switch from standard definition (SD) to set-top boxes that can support higher resolution standards such as HD and UltraHD.
Improving internet connectivity as well as the increased availability of streaming services are expected to contribute the sluggish market. Support of the UltraHD standard and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into set-top box chipsets will offer high-quality content and advanced features that interact with other multimedia devices in consumers' homes are differentiating factors for better user experience. ABI forecasts that the set-top box SoC market will continue to decline in the forecast period to $2 billion in 2023.