Following a “challenging year” in 2010 when total worldwide...

Following a “challenging year” in 2010 when total worldwide unit shipments of set-top boxes declined 7 percent, the negative trend will continue in 2011, according to an In-Stat study. Worldwide shipments of set-top boxes totaled 195 million in 2010 and are forecast to dip again this year to 190.4 million, analyst Michael Paxton told us. Total set-top box revenues in 2010 were $20.5 billion and are projected to slip to $19.4 billion this year, he said. The trend is expected to reverse in the next few years, though, with shipments forecast to hit 210 million units by 2015, Paxton said. Digital set-top boxes, “key pieces of equipment for pay-TV service providers,” will fuel the reversal as providers upgrade older boxes to HDTV, PVR and PVR-with-broadband versions, Paxton said. In 2010, digital set top box revenue was higher than the combined revenue of video game consoles and Blu-ray players, he said. Europe is expected to account for more than half of worldwide unit shipments of Digital Terrestrial TV set-top boxes through 2011, In-Stat said. Demand for digital set-top boxes in the U.S. has been decreasing slightly -- by 3 percent in 2010 -- since late 2009 and is expected to continue the decline this year. Pay TV market saturation and the end of the analog-to-digital terrestrial broadcast transition has reduced demand for digital set-top boxes in the U.S., In-Stat said. Demand is projected to remain flat to down for the next three years, it said.