What’s The True State Of The STB Market?

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Maybe FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler‘s quest for a dynamic, modern set-top box, while failed, was spot-on in its intent, given the predicted state of the STB market?


Two reports released last week paint a strong picture for the STB market in the Americas, with U.S. growth particularly strong in the next five years.

Technavio has published a market research report on the global set-top box market from 2016-2020.

Globally, the market is predicted to see declining CAGR of roughly 5%  during the forecast period.

But one need look no further than North America to see how important STB innovations are, resulting in strong growth.

“The market in the Americas is heavily influenced by North America, which accounts for nearly 70% of the market in the region,” Technavio reports. “The region is one of the fastest adopters of the latest technologies like STB because of the high average disposable income. Although the STB market is currently saturated in the region, it will gain momentum as UHD STBs gain more prominence in the market. The UHD STB segment is set to witness tremendous growth after 2018.”

The satellite STB segment is the leading segment in North America, with top vendors in the STB space including ARRIS Group, Comcast, Huawei Technologies, Pace and Technicolor.

Meanwhile, a concurrently released report and analysis from SNL Kagan shows the global set-top box market remaining robust, let alone in North America.

Worldwide STB shipments are on track to reach 273 million in 2016, up slightly from 269 million in 2015, according to SNL Kagan.

While unit volumes are expected to increase in 2016, STB revenues are again trending lower, SNL Kagan warns. High-volume set-tops are continuing to experience declining ASPs, primarily due to production efficiencies and decreasing component prices, it says. Thus, at the start of 2017 SNL Kagan is projecting global STB revenue of $16.4 billion — down 6% year-over-year.