Market Trends

Scottsdale, Ariz., February 18, 2011--In 2010, there was a rapid shift toward consumer electronics (CE) devices with networking and web content capabilities. Network-enabled CE devices have the ability to connect directly to the Internet or to a home network, while web-enabled, “Smart"  devices have to deliver IP-based video content for viewing either on the device itself or on a separate screen.   Both types of devices are expected to grow exponentially over the next five years.  By 2015, In-Stat (www.in-stat.com) predicts there will be 1 billion web-enabled, stationary CE devices in operation worldwide.

by NSR

Of the nominally US$787 billion that makes up the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, less than 1% has been directed to be used for funding a variety of broadband initiatives throughout the U.S. Yet, it seems that the broadband subsidy funding has attracted much more than its fair share of attention with all types of projects and proposals being floated and developed by entities large and small across the country.

Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 3, 2011--North American satellite pay-TV providers have not been adding subscribers at the same rate as previous years. Competition has been fierce from cable and telco providers offering bundled services and gains in subscribers as a result of being the video portion of telco triple play offers, have mostly run their course.  In Europe, the market will be impacted by less need for set top boxes, because more TV sets have integrated satellite tuners and CI+ slots.  As a result, shipments of satellite set top boxes declined in 2010 by 8% in both the North American and Western European regions, according to In-Stat.

Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 1, 2011--Television manufacturers are viewing 3D developments as the next big thing for the 3D TV industry, and expect it to boost sales and interest as much as color TVs did to black and white entertainment decades ago. They have already announced several 3D TV ready models, with many more to come in 2011. There is now talk of 3D broadcast channels in America, Europe and Asia for the coming years. The top four companies, Sony Corporation, LG Electronics, Samsung, and Panasonic Corporation have already come up with their own variants of 3D display products, which they believe would be of interest to consumers.

El Segundo, Calif., Jan. 25, 2011--Global unit shipments of consumer electronics (CE) products will climb 2.6 percent in 2010, partly driven by rising sales of products that play a role in the connected home and that focus on usability—rather than technological wizardry—according to new IHS iSuppli research.

London, Janaury 21, 2011--A  new report entitled “Two Worlds Connected: Consumer Electronics Meets Mobile Broadband” from the UMTS Forum predicts that there will be  one billion Consumer Electronics (CE) devices connected to mobile broadband networks by 2016. While the market for connected devices remains embryonic, the study argues that CE device connectivity will outstrip overall wireless market growth in the next five years. This trend is signalled by a wave of device categories – from e-Book readers to satnav devices – that are already demanding access to cellular networks.

The Majority Deployed in North America and Europe

Scottsdale, Ariz., January 20, 2011 - The global installed base of web-enabled stationary consumer electronics (CE) devices is growing rapidly and includes a wide variety of devices.  Typically, web-enabled CE devices can execute widgets, small software application programs that directly access an online portal, such as Netflix, Amazon VOD, Pandora, or YouTube.  The development and use of Smart TV applications are expected to proliferate over the next five years and, as a result, web-enabled CE device shipments are expected to grow 6 fold, surpassing 230 million installed units by 2014, the majority of these in North America and Europe, says In-Stat.

Santa Clara, Calif. January 20, 2011--Bytemobile data shows that video became the dominant form of mobile data traffic in 2010 – accounting for more than 40 percent of the total volume in wireless networks worldwide. With the rise of full-length and studio-quality videos and live streaming of multimedia content on mobile devices – as well as the emergence of two-way video communications – Bytemobile expects mobile data traffic to spike to an all-time high in 2011.

San Jose, Calif., Jan. 19, 2011-- Based on information from 875 IPTV Operators, where the total number of IPTV Operators have increased by 22 since Q2/2010, the rate of growth of global IPTVOperators continues at a rate of over 10 new Operators per quarter, with about 50% of those in North America.