The global market for IPTV set-top boxes will rapidly increase in terms of shipments and revenue in the years to come, offering increased competition to legacy products in the STB market, according to a report from iSuppli.

Sales of IPTV set-top boxes will grow from 19.4 million units in 2009 to 58 million in 2014, according to the report, which adds that revenues will rise from $ 2.9 billion in 2009 to $ 6.2 billion in 2014, giving compound annual growth rates of 25 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

In all, IPTV set-tops accounted for 14.7 per cent of total set-top box shipments in 2009, according to iSuppli, and are expected to make up 29.1 per cent of shipments in 214. In order to fulfil the promise of exciting interactive applications, the research firm believes that further innovation is required to differentiate IPTV services from those offered by cable and satellite providers.

In comparison, the legacy STB market consisting of cable, satellite and terrestrial units ended 2009 with 132mn shipments, and are projected to reach 199 million in 2014, giving a compound annual growth rate of 8.6 per cent for the period.

With over 60 vendors selling IPTV set-top boxes, the market remains “highly fragmented”, according to the report, although just 15 vendors supplied 92 per cent of the market in 2009. Motorola was found to be the lead vendor with a 32 per cent market share, followed by Cisco with a 14 per cent share. Microsoft meanwhile currently holds the lion’s share of the middleware market globally with 25 per cent – three times the market share of its nearest rival, Thomson.

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