According to some new research, the competition among service providers to ramp up as much HD content as possible (notably, in the United States, between cablers and DBS) appears to be growing global spending on IPTV equipment.
Infonetics Research said in a new report that as the number of IPTV subscribers continues to increase, service provider and cable operator spending on IPTV and SDV (switched digital video) equipment globally climbed just under 50 percent in 2008, to $3.9 billion.
The American research firm said due to aggressive pricing on bundled service packages, there was "healthy growth" in IPTV subscriber numbers in Asia-Pacific and North America in the fourth quarter of 2008, with the number of "pure and hybrid" IPTV subs more than doubling last year. (Total IPTV subs are projected to grow to about 45 million by the end of 2009.)
Infonetics Research maintains that encoder providers like Harmonic, Tandberg Television (Ericsson) and Motorola "will see a continued uptick in revenue this year as they benefit from the HD arms race currently going on in North America and soon to expand to Western Europe and parts of Asia."
