The set-top box market, although still robust, is trending downwards

Although there will be an increase in sales volume in 2016, SNL Kagan anticipates that revenue will decrease again, reaching 16.4 billion euros.

The exponential increase in televisions with integrated set-top boxes is slowing down sales of STBs, although they continue to be in a very robust situation. According to a report by SNL Kagan, 273 million units will have been sold this year, which represents an increase of just four million compared to the 269 million that were sold in 2015.

The report shows that although sales of STBs for cable continue to grow, units for digital terrestrial and satellite remain flat.

Although there will be an increase in sales volume in 2016, SNL Kagan anticipates that revenue will decrease again, reaching 16.4 billion euros (6% less than the previous year). High volume set-top boxes continue to encounter declining ASPs, primarily due to production efficiency and declining component prices.

Looking ahead to 2017, the consultancy estimates that 275 million units will be sold, although it foresees a slowdown in 2018 due to the rise of IPTV and multi-device consumption (smart TV, tablet...).

SNL Kagan projects that total shipments of STB units will decline further in 2018 and 2019, even though demand forecasts for STB products will remain robust in the coming years. In fact, global shipments are projected to exceed 261 million in 2020.

The STB sales ranking is headed by Huawei with 26 million units sold in 2015, surpassing Skyworth by one million units. Technicolor, Arris, Pace, Changhong and Yinhe complete the list of top set-top box manufacturers according to SNL Kagan.