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Video infrastructure vendors see their revenues drop as subscriber growth levels subside, however year-on-year results show huge improvement.
A new report from international market research and consultancy firm Infonetics Research has detected a slight drop in the sales of IPTV and other video equipment.
The study attributes the modest decline experienced in Q3 2009 to a reduction in the subscriber growth that had buoyed the market throughout the recession.
As consumers looked to cut spending on entertainment and dining out, many were re-investing in premium TV services to fill the gap, a pattern witnessed across developed markets.
The rate of this growth has now dropped off, although overall, pay TV operators are continuing to enjoy expanding subscriber bases.
“The growth pace slowed for new video service subscribers and fewer existing subscribers upgraded to premium services, two unifying trends defining the IPTV and video market in the third quarter,” says Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, broadband and video, Infonetics Research.
“Holiday shopping and new purchasers of HD TV sets will likely result in an upswing in premium service upgrades, but subscriber growth across the board will be tepid until macroeconomic conditions improve,” he added.
Worldwide set-top box (STB) revenue dropped six percent during the third quarter of 2009 with the reduction in the subscriber growth rate the main cause. There was also a decrease in the number of boxes purchased wholesale by operators re-stocking their supplies.
Overall, worldwide revenue for video infrastructure vendors declined compared to the previous quarter but was up by a massive 90 percent compared to the same period last year. The report also monitored the market share of the major STB manufacturers with Motorola maintaining its position at number one with Cisco and Pace second and third respectively. According to further research by the Dell’Oro Group, Motorola and Cisco together account for more than 95 percent of all cable STBs in the US and more than 65 percent globally.
Several emerging trends could break the duopoly in the immediate future. In the US, cable operators have been purchasing lower-end STBs as they look to entice terrestrial consumer to entry level digital cable services.
The emergence of full two-way IPTV deployments will open the door for other STB makers to operate in markets previously dominated by major manufacturers.
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