Set-Top Box Challenges Loom for Manufacturers

[Gregg Lengling]

Set-top box manufacturers want to include more advanced features and services in their equipment, but also are being pressed to keep costs down and prices low.

Unfortunately, the cost of components and manufacturing is not decreasing at the same rate as increasing expectation levels of cable MSOs, said research firm ABI.

"STB manufacturers are caught between a rock and a hard place," said Vamsi Sistla, ABI's director of broadband research. "On the one hand, they want to satisfy consumer demand by rolling out STBs with more advanced features while keeping costs down. However, in order to launch new products, they must be somewhat reliant on the decisions of the cable MSOs - a provider of STBs in the home - which are constantly monitoring consumer adoption and subscription rates."

In its latest set-top box quarterly, ABI said high-end set-top boxes will continue to increase their market penetration and cannibalize shipments of low-end boxes due to consumer demand for features such as PVRs, HD, and home networking.

ABI's study found Scientific-Atlanta is emerging as a leader in the advanced set-top world, with Motorola a distant second. Scientific-Atlanta has received a boost with its PVR service launches by Time Warner Cable and Comcast.

In the third quarter, Scientific-Atlanta had around 90 percent of market share in the digital cable PVR install base, and the high market share will continue for the next few quarters in the U.S. market, ABI said.