ABI Research's newest study of the IP-STB market has revealed some noteworthy new dynamics. The report includes a SWOT analysis of the major IP-STB vendors worldwide which highlights Motorola's recent emergence as a strong and prominent player.

"Motorola already had a good pedigree with STBs in general," says principal analyst Michael Arden. "When Motorola acquired Kreatel — itself an IP-STB leader — it gained much greater entrée into the European market and others outside its traditional North American base. In addition, the company owns proven technologies from its own and others' video platforms."

Motorola's involvement with the ongoing rollout of telco TV services by Verizon has helped as well. Although AT&T is starting to picking up steam, Verizon will be the market driver in North America, which means Motorola is very well positioned in a rapidly growing market. This trend will accelerate over the next few months, as Verizon pushes its network into new regions.

Arden adds, "Because there are some hybrid STB' issues involved as well — IP combined with cable TV or with satellite — Motorola has some products that may allow it to get into the hybrid market more easily than some of its competitors."

That is not to say that Motorola is alone in the field: there are a couple of others still in the running: ADB Global ranked second in the SWOT analysis because it has some very significant opportunities due to a very strong product lineup in the hybrid IP-DTT STB arena. The company is getting very good traction in Western Europe, where it has carved out a niche.

"In third place," says Arden, "French vendor Sagem Communication ranked highly because the market in France is so hot right now. It isn't the top-ranked company in any of the four SWOT categories, but it has a strong position among all of them."

The analysis contained in ABI Research's new study, "IP Video Set-Top Boxes" includes shipment and market value forecasts for STBs and gateways. For IP STBs, this analysis is broken into categories reflective of feature combinations on boxes.