According to a recent report from iSuppli set-top boxes will remain at least another ten years. Set-top boxes are projected to remain vital to the consumer electronics industry, says Home Media Magazine.
iSuppli starts it report by explaining that set-top boxes have been around in one form or another for more than 30 years. Although this is long, iSuppli notes that the industry is far from settled down.
Besides stating that set-top boxes (STBs) are here to stay, the report reads that STBs will continue to be one of the most dynamic areas of the electronic industry. iSuppli can't say what kind of form the technology will take in the coming years, but that digital video recording and high-definition will play a role is sure, says the research firm.
In 2007 35% of all shipped STBs contained either DVR or high-def support, compared to the forecasted 70% in 2012. “DVRs are cheap to integrate into STBs because Hard Disk Drive (HDD) costs have plummeted so much,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for set-top boxes for iSuppli during a presentation at iSuppli’s North American Briefing last week.
The research firm also states that "a perfect storm of lower-cost HD technology" will finally make HD mainstream by 2012. This mainstream position plus the fact that DVRs are cheap to integrate, will make these two technologies important for our future STBs.
“HD video processing chips are migrating to 65-nanometer semiconductor manufacturing technologies, causing their incremental costs to drop compared to standard-definition devices. HD display prices are falling rapidly as well."
iSuppli forecasts that more than 125 million of these displays will ship in 2008, and customers will demand HD content to watch on their new televisions.
