Cable TV digitization to aid India set-top box, HD market
Above 19 million set-top boxes are to be shipped to India during 2012 in order to complete the ambitious programme to digitize the country cable network, ABI Research predicts.
The analysts too expect satellite TV in India to produce at a slower rate than last year, when 10 million subscribers took up the new services from DTH operators.
Digital cable set-top box (STB) operation resolve, but rush this year as larger operator begins their deployments, with the first of phase digitization in the major metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai set for 1 July 2012.
The cable TV digitization, permission by the government, will urge set top box delivery increases in India for the next some years, says Sam Rosen, principal analyst, ABI Research. Complete digitisation is scheduled by the end of 2014.
The consultancy believe s India’s cable digitization procedure growth was far slower than the Government permission requirement however- if not, customers will be forced to dump the cable in favor of satellite as cable operators struggle to obtain the set-top boxes”, says ABI.
High-definition (HD) TV adoption will also get a boost with digitization, even if at present HD STBs account for just 11% of in general consignment in India.
“The increasing acceptance of HDTV sets and cable TV digitization is expected to bring more HD channels and HD services in India,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, research analyst, ABI.
Nearly 70% of set-top boxes installed in Indian households are imported from foreign manufacturers, especially from China. In 2011, Huawei was the top STB vendor in India with 24% market share, followed by Pace with 12%. Chang Hong, Cisco, and Skyworth are also active in the Indian STB market.
Domestic STB production will increase – mostly for low cost STBs. Some abroad companies will also institute set-top box developed facilities in India, ABI expects in its new study, Indian Set Top Box Market.
