Technology research firm ABI estimates that the market for IP STBs will grow at a rate 6 times faster than that for digital cable STBs in the next 3 years, worldwide.
IP-based video delivery has all the right ingredients in place to become mainstream and compete against the incumbent cable and satellite providers. "Intel and Microsoft, the two biggest bellwethers in the technological arena, are currently expressing interest and offering products to target the IP-based video distribution market," explains Vamsi Sistla, ABI senior analyst. "With this, the telco and broadband providers are bound to see the light at the end of the tunnel that started with Internet streaming more than 5 years back -- with rudimentary data rates and a broadband subscriber base many times less than present date numbers."
Unlike the previous IP-based video services, the present generation of services and offerings focus on the TV instead of the PC as the delivering platform. It has taken a good number of years for the industry to realize that the PC can neither overshadow TV's positional advantage -- nor permanently distract its loyalists.
ABI's new study,
"The Rise of IP Set Top Boxes: Broadband Video, Technologies and Market Forecasts," focuses on the rise of broadband video equipment and service markets; possible service models, IP STBs features and trends, broadband VOD service offerings, and advanced digital services are discussed in detail. This report also addresses the growth rates of cable VOD vs. broadband VOD markets, worldwide, as PVR, VOD and PPV will play significant roles in the success of broadband video markets in the future. Detailed worldwide shipments, ASP and revenue forecasts for 2002 through 2008 are provided.
Copyright 2003, Allied Business Intelligence Inc. (ABI). All rights reserved. Reproduced by DeviceForge.com with permission.
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