The future of the set-top box

The future of the set-top box published by Ovum, Ltd. in October, 2007. This report consists of 24 PAGES and the price starts from US $ 2500.

Introduction

The growth of bandwidth and broadband content services is driving functionality and indeed the prominence of the set-top box (STB) in the living room. ISPs are increasingly seeing their role in the connected home as a firm and growing part of their overall strategy. Without a foothold in the home ISPs could be thrown to the wayside, as they increasingly compete with the content and consumer electronics (CE) vendor brands that are also rapidly pursuing the space.

This report looks into the current STB strategy of service providers, and how the evolution of the STB and key connected home players could impact this strategy. For this piece Ovum interviewed various operators and STB manufacturers, and has drawn upon consumer research Ovum conducted in North America.

Ovum view

• The move to sophisticated boxes
• Analogue to digital
• Flexible high-quality TV & video
• STB as an island or a hub
• Feature differentiation

Barriers to innovation by ISPs

• Cost/revenue potential
• Reactive versus proactive strategy
• Technical issues
• Consumer understanding
• Brand

Competitive landscape

ISPs: strengths and weaknesses

• Strengths
• Weaknesses

Partnering

STB strategies for service providers

Case studies

• Case study: Sky
• Case study: Sony PS3 and Korea Telecom

• Figure 1: STB specifications - operators and output
• Figure 2: STB specifications - TV and video services
• Figure 3: STB specifications - connectivity
• Figure 4: STB specifications - other services and additional features
• Figure 5: ISPs' device strategy
• Figure 6: Actual device evolution
• Figure 7: Best practice STB strategy for service providers
• Figure 8: Sky' s device evolution

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