Tuesday September 6, 2011 – Shelby Cunningham
Digital media streaming STBs have almost completed their mission in life, and can soon begin to die in peace.
These media streaming boxes were sent to us not only to introduce consumers to another pipeline from which to watch movies and TV programs on the TV but also to show (inadvertently) traditional pay TV service providers, and consumer electronics makers, why they need to incorporate internet streaming into their products.
But as discreet products, we forecast that this new product category is already on its way out. Just over 2 million MPEG-4 AVC media streaming boxes were estimated to have shipped in 2010, but that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions of MPEG-4 AVC devices that shipped in 2010. (MPEG-4 AVC is the most commonly used compression technology for internet video content intended to be viewed on television displays). In 2010, DTC estimates that 85 million MPEG-4 AVC STBs shipped, 32 million MPEG-4 AVC BD players shipped, 24 million MPEG-4 AVC video game consoles shipped, and 34 million MPEG-4 AVC IDTVs shipped.
There will still be a small place left in this world for these media streaming STBs, and that place will be the second bedroom (or guest room, or the study, etc.). A couple of suppliers will likely stick around and build a respectable niche market for dedicated media streaming boxes. It’s even likely that so-called “cord shavers” (pay TV subscribers who may supplement their main pay TV connection with streaming boxes on auxiliary TVs) will contribute to keeping a niche market afloat.
We’re not ready to write the obituary just yet. The other living room device makers and TV providers have to get a few things right first, including providing good, user-friendly interfaces and content partnerships. And though one day we’ll forget about the Rokus and Boxees that sat by our TVs in 2010 and 2011, the purpose they served in integrating streaming functions into STBs and other devices (in a consumer friendly way) will go down as big part of how TV got revolutionized in the 21st century.
