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Parks Associates Offers Roadmap for Advanced Set-top
Box Features
TV Set-top Box to Go Through Three Phases of Role Expansion
Consumer interest in advanced TV features will transform the set-top
box into a complete service platform that integrates entertainment,
information, communications, and commerce-related applications for digital
home consumers, according to
Set-top Boxes:
Analysis and Forecasts, an upcoming report from Parks Associates.
According to the report, the worldwide evolution of the set-top box
will include three stages. At stage one, TV viewers will demand features
and services that enhance their TV-watching experience, such as
high-definition capability, TV recording, and enriched TV programming. At
stage two, applications that help consumers better access information and
easily bridge PC-based digital media into the living room will become
popular. At stage three, communications, commerce, and personalized
applications and services, such as caller ID on TV, recommendations, and
TV shopping, will find wider acceptance among consumers, transforming the
set-top box into a home service platform.
“Service providers and their set-top box partners can follow this
roadmap in formulating service offerings and hardware strategies going
forward,” said
Harry Wang,
research analyst at Parks Associates. “Very soon the number of
applications for the set-top box will increase dramatically, and providers
must understand the dynamics of this market in order to offer the services
that most appeal to their subscribers.”
Although the three-tiered interest structure is consistent across the
twelve countries surveyed in Parks Associates’
Global
Digital Living™ project, country- and platform-specific
differences still exist. For instance, 66% of the French satellite TV
subscribers are very or extremely interested in viewing digital photos on
the TV, compared with only 20% among the U.S. satellite TV viewers.
Fifty-two percent of the Taiwanese digital cable users are very or
extremely interested in TV-based commerce applications, versus 12% among
the Japanese digital cable subscribers.
“Players in the global pay-TV market must take heed of these
similarities and differences in order to fine-tune the set-top features
for complete user satisfaction,”
Wang said.
Set-top
Boxes: Analysis and Forecasts is a comprehensive industry report
that examines the next generation of set-top box platforms, studying use
cases from DVRs to home networking media servers. It analyzes the market
for set-top box components and solutions, from silicon to software, as
well as the role of industry and open standards.
Global Digital Living™ (GDL) is Parks Associates’ premium
multinational research program to understand consumer perspectives &
ecosystems for key categories of the digital home. In late 2006, Parks
Associates will launch Global Digital Living™ II, the second series of
this landmark consumer study encompassing China, Taiwan, Brazil, Japan,
South Korea, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This second study expands on the
initial survey by tracking and analyzing changes in ownership of products
and subscriptions based on the baseline established from the first GDL.
The survey will also assess the validity of consumer intention statements
made in the first GDL.
For additional information on
Set-top Boxes:
Analysis and Forecasts and
Global
Digital Living™ II, visit
http://www.parksassociates.com or contact 972-490-1113 or
sales@parksassociates.com.
About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is an
internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing
in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks
Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to
small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research,
custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service
subscriptions.
The company's expertise includes new media, digital
entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services,
digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, and home
control systems and security.
Each year, Parks Associates hosts executive thought
leadership conferences CONNECTIONS™, with support from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®), and CONNECTIONS™ Europe. In addition, Parks
Associates produces the online publication Industry Insights in
conjunction with the CONNECTIONS™ Conference series.
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