News

26/8/2003

Digital TV Prices Will Fall to 36 Euros by 2007; Digital Terrestrial TV Expansion Will Fuel Demand for New PVR and DVD Devices

Strategy Analytics, the global research and consulting company, today released a new report, "DTTV Devices: Evolution, Segmentation and Scenarios," from Strategy Analytics' Broadband Device Strategies service, predicting digital terrestrial TV receivers will sell for as little as 36 Euros (GBP27) by 2007, and advising manufacturers to develop multi-platform and combination products such as Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) and DVD recorders in order to sustain revenue growth.

Demand for digital terrestrial television (DTTV) is finally showing signs of life in Europe. Success stories include the UK's Freeview service and the switch-off of analogue television in Berlin. Strategy Analytics predicts that the number of European homes with DTTV will double by the end of this year, reaching 3.7 million. Demand is being driven in part by cheaper set-top boxes, which now retail for less than 100 Euros. The research found that intense supplier competition will lead to further rapid price declines over the next few years.

"Prices like these could change the economics of the digital transition," comments David Mercer, Principal Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "Governments around the world are keen to recover analogue spectrum, but they should also note that substantial public subsidies will still be required in order to encourage universal digital adoption."

This report identifies the battle for future device revenues between established vendors, such as Sony, Thomson and Pace, and emerging players, such as Humax, Micronik, Fusion and Netgem. It concludes that new players can pose a threat to the bigger names by offering greater flexibility and responsiveness in product design and development.

www.strategyanalytics.com