The IMS Research study The World Market for Hybrid Set-Top Boxes reveals that continued growth in hybrid STB deployments is being driven by operators initiatives to increase ARPUs through additional services including push-VOD services, progressive download services and access to web portal content.

Rebecca Kurlak, research analyst and author of the study, states, “A few of the prime markets for hybrid STBs will be the US, France and the UK. These countries have mature subscriber bases where operators need to increase ARPU through advanced services.” Kurlak continues, “By the end of 2009, shipments of hybrid STBs will exceed 71% in these countries alone. The opportunity for hybrid STBs is of course much larger, forecast at 82 million worldwide for 2014. Many major operators worldwide are deploying or planning to offer hybrid services as rivalry in triple-play intensifies. In order to gain a competitive edge, operators are looking to provide added-value services and additional content in order to strengthen their position in the digital TV market.

In addition to television household forecasts (split by picture quality and DVR functionality), the study provides detailed analysis of hybrid STB shipments and regions for the three major global regions with further analysis on 49 individual countries. Devices featured in the report include DTH+IP, DTH+DTT, DTH+IP+DTT, Cable+IP, Cable+DTT, Cable+IP+DTT and IP+DTT.