Set-top box shipments to SAARC rise 52%


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Rebecca Hawkes

| 08 February 2016




Shipments of set-top boxes (STBs) to South Asia grew 52% year-on-year in 2015, hitting 11.3 million in the fourth quarter of the year, according to Dataxis research.


In total, 22.3 million STBs valued at US$494 million were shipped to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries during 2015.

India received some 97% of the total shipments to SAARC in the quarter ending 31 December 2015, with over six million STBs aiding the country’s nationwide push to digitise its cable TV network. The remainder of STBs went to the other SAARC nations of Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“With a mere three HD pay-TV channels in 2010, this number has boomed to greater than 60 channels in 2015. As demand for HD content continues to grow in India, the average selling price of HD STB has dropped to $34 in 2015, compared to $40 in 2014,” said Anusha S, research analyst, Dataxis.

Technicolor shipped close to 2.38 million STBs to India in Q4-2015, with most going to direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV operators. Skyworth completed 2.19 million STB shipments to India during the same quarter, said Dataxis.

The demand for HD services are highest among subscribers to India’s DTH subscribers, and shipments of HD STBs accounted for 32% of total STB shipments in 2015. This compares with a figure of 14% in 2014.

The uptake of HD services among India’s cable subscribers is yet to make a mark as cable TV operators are focusing on delivering the digitisation mandate by installing SD STBs, Dataxis said.

Indigenous STB manufacturers are contributing to the country’s increased demand for digital STBs, including Trend Technologies, Hero -My Box Technologies, Logic Eastern, Indieon, Riddsys, Simmtronics, One-Eight Technologies, Spectra Innovations, Willet Communications, Modern Communication and Broadcast Systems. Along with the international players Changhong, Huawei Technologies, Skyworth, EchoStar, Pace, Technicolor, Cisco Systems, Humax Electronics and Homecast.