Set-Top Market Set for Consolidation?

According to ABI Research, the set-top box market is set for consolidation. The research house says the market's top vendors have traditionally focused on one or two of the cable, satellite or IPTV markets, rather than on all three. Of the top five set-top box vendors - ARRIS, Cisco, Technicolor, Pace and Echostar - most are heavily weighted to one sector, or, in some cases, two of the three sectors. ABI says this model won't meet the needs of operators who are looking at extending their services over multiple networks.

"This mature, yet fragmented market, in which the top five vendors account for about 37% of revenues, is ripe for further consolidation," wrote Sam Rosen, ABI practice director. "We continue to believe that integration of historically separate cable and IPTV providers with satellite set-top OEMs would bear fruit in the increasingly hybrid set-top box world generated with acquisitions such as AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV."