The digital video recorder (DVR) market has received a timely spur from the increasing number of smart homes, especially those with satellite TV subscriptions.
According to a new report from Sandler Research, the global DVR market — calculated from revenue generated from the sales of such devices over cable, DTH, IPTV and DTT networks — will grow at a CAGR of 14.82% over the period 2014-2019.
Time-shifting and ad-skipping features are cited as the main drivers of the adoption of DVR in the period. Moreover, the analyst believes that with economic growth around the world, the income level of consumers has also increased and so high-end multipurpose DVRs have become an affordable option for more people.
Regionally, the report shows that the Americas dominate the DVR market followed by the EMEA and the APAC regions. However, as the DVR market in APAC is still in its nascent stage, it is estimated to post the highest market growth rate during the forecast period. Sandler attributes the high market growth rate of this region to its large overall TV subscriber base.
The market research analyst forecasts the DTH segment to show the highest market growth rate during the forecast period. Features like the availability of HD channels, pay-to-use channels, easy user-interface, digital video recording, and value-added services likely to be mainly responsible for its rapid adoption during the next four years.
The Sandler report also highlights a global DVR market fragmented with the presence of a large number of small and large vendors. Key players listed are DirectTV, Cisco, LG, Panasonic, Samsung and TiVo.
Looking at the prospects of these players in the competitive industries in which they operate, Sandler warns that they must consistently update their products to incorporate new technologies at least yearly. This would, it says, make the pay-TV providers buying such technologies better equipped to compete with the likes of Netflix, YouTube and Hulu.
