Based on a recent study, IMS Research is forecasting nearly 40% of TV sets shipped in 2011 will be enabled with some type of digital tuner enabling reception of digital TV without the need for a set-top box. This proportion is up from an estimated 7% in 2005.

Based on a recent study, The Worldwide Market for Television Sets, IMS Research forecasts that worldwide rollouts of digital TV services, as well as HDTV programming, will result with suppliers integrating digital tuners, particularly for digital terrestrial TV (DTT) reception, into TV sets. "The strong adoption of DTT in Western Europe is already incenting some major brand suppliers to make DTT tuners a de facto standard in many flat panel display models," stated Anna Hunt, research director at IMS Research. "Although iDTVs supporting ATSC and DVB-T standards are likely to be most common, TV sets with built-in digital cable and digital satellite reception are also expected to penetrate more markets. Growth of the digital free-to-air satellite platform worldwide and supplier driven force such as the CableREADY initiative in the US are likely to drive additional tuner integration." As more suppliers integrate digital tuners into TVs, multi-platform iDTVs are also likely to become more common, as is already happening in Japan and the US.

Hence the question many ask is if the set-top box will become extinct due to strong iDTV uptake. Based on extensive research on both the set-top box and TV sets markets, IMS Research believes that both products will co-exist for some time. Operator driven deployments of feature-rich set-top boxes will continue in many of the markets were iDTVs thrive. For free-to-air satellite and DTT platforms, basic low-cost boxes will be key to enabling full transition to digital broadcasting. IMS Research deducts from its studies that iDTVs will not become a true threat to set-top box suppliers, at least not during this decade.