SAARC set-top box market hits record growth


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 05 November 2015





Shipments of set-top boxes (STBs) to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries hit 7.34 million in Q3 2015, thanks to the cable TV digitisation programme in India.


This represents a quarter-on-quarter growth for STB shipments of 73%, at an estimated value of US$176 million, according to research from Dataxis.

India leads the quarter ending 30 September, accounting for about 97% of the total shipments to region – comprising Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Skyworth leads the manufacturers' league in STB shipments in the third quarter, with reported plans to start manufacture of decoders locally for the Indian market.

Currently, local manufacturing of STBs in India accounted for just 5% of total sales during the first and second phases of the country's mandatory cable digitisation programme, but this is growing in the current third phase of seeding.

Direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV operators Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV and Videocon d2h have all opted for indigenous brands, which, along with the government's 'Make in India' initiative, have helped boost the Indian STB industry.

"Local STB manufacturing in India has increased almost fourfold in the third quarter of 2015, and this is in line with our expectations. As the deadline for the third phase digitisation nears, there is high demand for STBs from the MSOs and most of the independent and small size operators are coming forward to partner with indigenous brands," says Sreeja VN, media analyst at Dataxis.

The major indigenous manufacturers are Mybox, One-eIGHT technologies, Trend Electronics, Ridsys, and Willet Communications, while Technicolor, Skyworth, Changhong, Huawei and Coship are the most successful international STB manufacturers currently in the SAARC region.