According to Infonetics Research, worldwide set-top box revenue grew almost 10% in 2012 and is expected to remain healthy in the near term as operators in China, India, and Latin America add digital services. The research house expects video gateways and media players to drive future growth, with video gateways growing from 1% of total cable and satellite STB shipments in 2012 to 16% by 2017. Double- and triple-digit annual growth in media player shipments are expected each year in the same time period.
- The global set-top box market, including IP, cable, satellite, and DTT STBs, totaled $4.6 billion in 4Q12, up 3% sequentially.
- Sales of over-the-top (OTT) media servers spiked 25% in 2012, with much of the growth coming from Apple TV.
- Thanks to a 28% bump in revenue, Cisco led all STB vendors for the full year 2012, edging out Motorola and Pace.
- Motorola's sales declined by double digits in 2012, largely a result of new entrants in the North American market, particularly Pace and Samsung.
- Infonetics expects the global STB market to grow to $26 billion in 2017.