Every so often the press latches on to the idea that the set-top is on death row. The notion is absurd for a number of reasons, but to make the point in the briefest of terms I thought I’d disclose the set-top shipment numbers that crossed my desk today for Motorola’s Q2. If nothing else, here is quantitative evidence that the set-top isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Overall, shipments of digital video set-tops grew more than 15% from Q1 to Q2, with particular spikes in both HD and DVR boxes.
- Motorola shipped 1.04 million DVRs in Q1, followed by 1.32 million DVRs in Q2.
- HD set-top shipments were at 1.37 million in Q1 before jumping to 2.02 million in Q2.
- To date, Motorola has shipped more than 78 million digital set-tops total.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great things happening with tru2way that will lead to certain cable applications being embedded into other CE devices. That’s not a bad thing for Motorola, incidentally, because it means the market for broadband services should continue to grow. But in the conceivable future there will always be a role for set-tops. After all, who wants to buy a new TV for every hardware upgrade?
Filed under: Cable, DVR, HDTV, Motorola News, Tru2way
Hi Mari,
Did Motorola ship any DCX style set tops yet? I’m curious how that new product line is going… ie) is it released yet, or is it still in early stages of manufacturing…
Nothing’s been disclosed about DCX shipments. Though the new CableCARD set-tops for Verizon are based on a similar model.
Ok, thanks Mari!
The Motorola QIP-7000 series has similar internals to the DCX product line? Of course adding Hybrid QAM/IP support… That’s good to know!
Curious why they didn’t use the DCX or DCH shell, and instead reused the regular DCT shell. Looking forward to the next generation of set tops with powerful Tru2Way software
Of course cableco’s are buying the boxes. They have a great future in provideing boxes and getting $10 per month for them for the next 10 years. Tru2way is not available in ANY HD tvs and they know it. Once the transition happens, everyone has already bought a tv and will need a box. They Tru2way was developed in 2005 and nothing has happened with it in 3 years. I’m sure the delay had to do with the cableco’s lobbyist’s!! Cablecos win again!!!
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