Skyworth emerged as the market leader in the India Set Top Box market. India registered 5.3 million units of set top boxes shipments in CY Q1 2013.

Introduction of Conditional Access System (CAS), mandatory government & regulations, popularity of DTH platforms, declining prices of Set Top Boxes (STBs) are fuelling the growth of STBs in India.

With government directing rules to completely digitize the entire pay TV market by 2014, the demand for STBs is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. Evaluating the present market scenario, majority of the total cable TV subscribers are still on analog based networks; however we expect a shift towards digital cable TV platform. Also, with the introduction of High Definition (HD) channels and smart TVs, the market for digital TV viewing is expected to increase significantly.

Imports of Set Top Boxes (STBs) in India constitutes the significant share of total STBs, around 85%, in India due to the cost advantage enjoyed by the foreign players.

Table 1: India Set Top Box Market, Players Market Share (CY Q1 2013)

Source: 6Wresearch Quarterly India STB Market, Q1 2013

Key Highlights (Q1 2013)

1. Compared to the previous quarters the Q1 2013 witnessed slow production as well as the volume uptake was   quite low.
2. Top three players constituted more than 40% of the market share.
3. Skyworth leads the market with 23.3% market share.
4. Domestic shipments accounted for 15% of the total shipments of STBs in India