Set-top box demand strong as consumers accept OTT content delivery, says Infonetics Research

A report released in March by Infonetics Research examining demand for set-top boxes demonstrates the remarkable growth in popularity of watching television content delivered via the Internet.

According to the report, “Cable, Satellite, IPTV and OTT Set-Top Boxes and Subscribers,” a jump in demand for over-the-top content from Internet sites like Netflix and Hulu is driving demand for set-top boxes.
The report says stand-alone set-top boxes for OTT, such as Apple TV, Roku Media Player and Boxee, experienced strong growth, nearly doubling from the third to fourth quarter last year as Netflix and Hulu launched low-price services in Q3 2010.

Netflix added more than 3 million subscribers in the final quarter of the year — three times as many as during the same quarter in 2009 — and supports a subscriber base of 20 million. Hulu added the Hulu Plus paid service and is expecting its subscribers to exceed 1 million this year, the report said. Additionally, Amazon’s acquisition of LOVEFiLM will propel OTT stand-alone set-top box demand in Europe.

OTT set-top box revenue grew 90 percent in 2010 and is forecasted to reach $1.16 billion in 2015, Infonetics said.