ABI Predicts Fewer STB Shipments After 2012

Is the set-top box (STB) market about to level off? If numbers from ABI Research are on-target, the answer, quite possibly, is yes.

The research firm noted today in a new report that STB shipments will peak around 110 million in 2012. After that date, demand for units for all platforms – digital terrestrial TV, IPTV, DBS and cable – will start to decline.

STB sales started to fall last year and will continue that downward trend through 2009, ABI found. However, revenue will recover by 2010 and remain stable through about 2013, analysts said.

We’re a little unclear on how shipments can go down and sales can go up, though. Maybe that’s explained by ABI’s projection that there will be more HD/PVR sales, especially in the DBS segment. Still, it’s kind of confusing.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines