"Hybrid STBs are a combination of satellite, cable, and IPTV STBs. These STBs support a satellite input, a regular cable input, and signals transmitted over the Internet," said Soumya Mutsuddi, one of Technavio's industry analysts for consumer electronics. "The technology is versatile as it allows Internet access, over-the-top (OTT) services, and also offers pay-on-demand (POD) content on the same device. This research forecast states, as of 2015, 29.62 million units of in-built hybrid STBs were shipped, and the market is expected to reach close to 53.51 million units in sales by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 12.56%."
"To tap the growing market, vendors are introducing innovative services, including on-demand, push-VOD, and specialized Internet services for increasing the average revenue per unit (ARPU). These services range from free-to-air to pay TV on digital video broadcasting (DVB) component along with value-added services on its IP component. This trend is likely to significantly improve profit margins of the leading vendors over the forecast period," said Soumya.
The research house say the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) is the largest market for set-tops, and it accounts for more than 50% of the total global TV shipments. Technavio researchers estimate, as of 2015, 73.38 million units of in-built storage set-tops were shipped in the region. Although the penetration of HD set-tops is slow in the region, rapid digitization is expected to continue to propel market growth.
The market in the Americas is driven by high purchasing power of consumers, Technavio says, but requires further advances in technology to propel its growth. Satellite set-top sales are declining rapidly in North America, and the trend is expected to continue throughout the forecast period as an increasing number of households continue to switch to IPTVs and hybrid set-tops. The adoption of UltraHD set-tops is also anticipated to increase thanks to increased digitization in Latin America.
The market in Western Europe is saturated, while Eastern Europe and the Middle East are experiencing rapid growth. In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, adoption of advanced set-tops like IPTV and hybrids is anticipated to be slow.