Cisco edges out Motorola in IP STB market

CALIFORNIA, USA: Ninety four per cent of service providers participating in Infonetics Research' survey use IP STBs to deliver video services.

"In a change from the 2011 edition of our IP set-top box survey, Cisco is now perceived as the overall top IP set-top box supplier by operators, while Motorola was top dog last year," notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research. "This is consistent with our set-top box market share reporting, where Cisco has led in global IP STB revenue share for 4 straight quarters. Clearly Cisco's efforts over the past year to expand its IP set-top box lineup and customer base, and the major contracts it has scored with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and Telus are paying off."

Carriers identified the top three critical IP STB applications as video on demand (VOD), electronic program guide (EPG), and whole-home DVR.

STB social networking capabilities (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) were not rated highly by survey respondents.

Ethernet is the leading technology for connecting STBs to home networks and sharing media with other devices, followed by 802.11n and universal plug and play (UPnP).

Increases in HD programming and time-shifted viewing are placing greater storage burdens on the STB: 71 per cent of operator respondents believe they will need more than 500G of hard drive capacity by 2013.

Cisco and Motorola are tied as the most installed IP STB suppliers among carriers, followed by Amino.