Set-top Shipments for 2015 Likely up Slightly On Higher Demand in China, India, SNL Kagan Says

Set-top box shipments globally likely hit 253.1 million units for 2015, up slightly less than 2 percent from 2014, as the worldwide multichannel market hit 959 million subscribers, SNL Kagan said in a news release Thursday. The growth was due to increased demand in China and India, it said. Cable set-top unit shipments globally likely were close to 75 million for the year, about the same as 2014, and demand was likely flat as many cable TV markets approach saturation, SNL Kagan said. The IP set-top market also was probably flat as growing demand in Asia and Europe was offset by declines in North America, it said. Satellite set-top shipments are expected to be 47 percent of global set-top unit shipments, the largest segment of the market, it said. DVR-enabled set-top shipments declined for the year due to cost concerns and growing use of cloud-based DVR services, SNL Kagan said.