The revenue of set-top box (STB) market — including IP/cable/satellite/DTT STBs, OTT media servers, and HDMI dongles – fell 3 percent to $4.2 billion in Q1 2015 from Q4 2014, said IHS.
Arris is leading the worldwide STB revenue market.
Shipments of set-top boxes (STBs) rose 3 percent year on year and 2 percent quarter on quarter in the first quarter of 2015.
“We expect unit shipments of set-top boxes to improve in 2015, but price competition for higher-end devices and growth among less expensive boxes for emerging markets will bring revenue down for the year,” said Jeff Heynen, research director for broadband access and pay TV at IHS.
There will be strong growth for High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) dongles, which allow viewers to stream online movies, music, games, photos and apps to a TV using a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
HDMI dongles, such as Google’s Chromecast, Roku HDMI sticks, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick HDTV, and virtual set-top boxes, will see the highest unit growth of all the digital media adapters tracked by IHS, and could siphon away business from over-the-top (OTT) servers.
The number of HDMI dongles sold worldwide will reach 27 million by 2019.
Cable STB sales fell 2 percent worldwide to $1.5 billion, as declines in traditional digital boxes, media players and client devices offset gains in headed gateways and hybrid IP/QAM devices.
Satellite set-top box revenue fell 3 percent in Q1 2015 from the prior quarter – due to a slowdown of sales in North America, said IHS.
