According to a market report published by Transparency Market Research, the global conditional access systems market was valued at $2.3 billion (€2.1bn) in 2014 and is estimated to reach $4.7 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 10.3 per cent from 2015 to 2022.

North America was the largest contributor, in terms of revenue to the conditional access systems market in 2014. With high adoption of advanced services such as HD television service, IPTV and others, North America is expected to hold its dominant position throughout the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing market for conditional access solutions during the forecast period, growing at a CAGR of 12.2 per cent from 2015 to 2022. The market growth of conditional access systems in Asia Pacific region is mainly driven by the rapidly growing analogue to digital television switchover in India and China. Another significant factor boosting the market growth is the growing penetration of Internet-based services in the region.

Conditional access systems (CAS) are the content protection solutions used for controlling unauthorised access to audio as well as video content. These systems are deployed at the receiving end i.e. set-tops boxes of the consumers. The most significant factor fuelling the growth of conditional access systems market is the rapidly growing television transition from analogue to digital transmission. With the rising demand for digital television set-top boxes, the market for conditional access systems is predicted to witness high growth in the coming years. Another significant factor responsible for the growth of conditional access systems market is the increasing advancements in broadcast media industry. Most of the households in regions such as North America, Western Europe and others receive HD television broadcast. Due to growing technological shift in the television industry, the demand for next-generation conditional access solutions is estimated to grow substantially during the forecast period. Furthermore, the demand for conditional access systems is also driven by the growing adoption of IPTV and digital radio services across different regions. However, the profitability of conditional access systems is majorly hindered due to regions with less customer base such as Africa.

The global market for conditional access systems is segmented on the basis of solution type, applications and geographic regions. On the basis of solution type, the global conditional access systems market is segmented into smartcard-based CAS and card-less CAS. In 2014, the smartcard-based CAS segment accounted for the largest market share of around 66 per cent, in terms of revenue, of the global conditional access systems market. Smartcard-based CAS is the traditional solution based on smartcard which is installed on the consumer receiver device. Card-less CAS accounted for a lower share of around 34 per cent in 2014, of the global CAS market.

However, due to low operational costs and better security offered by these solutions, the demand for card-less CAS is predicted to witness highest growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, on the basis of applications, the global conditional access systems market is segmented into television, internet services and digital radio. In 2014, the television segment accounted for the largest share of around 72 per cent, in terms of revenue, of the global conditional access systems market. This was majorly due to high penetration of digital television in North America, Western Europe and other developed regions across the world. Television segment is estimated to hold its dominant position, growing at a CAGR of 10.3 per cent, during the forecast period with rapidly growing adoption of digital television in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe and other developing regions.

On the basis of geographic regions, North America led the global conditional access systems market in 2014, with a share of around 32 per cent of the total market. High penetration of digital television and IPTV is the most significant factor responsible for this growth.

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