Abstract
As digital satellite TV services have taken off, satellite TV STBs (Set Top Box) have become the mainstream STB type; global shipments of digital satellite TV STBs in 2007 totaled 72.2 million units. FTA/CI STBs, which are capable of receiving free satellite TV services, have proved to be especially popular in Western Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, and other emerging markets. Annual shipments of FTA/CI STBs are forecast to reach 47.3 million units by 2011. Growing demand for FTA/CI STBs has encouraged IC suppliers such as Ali, Cheertek, Conexant, Haier IC, NationalChip, ST Microelectronics, NEC and Fujitsu to move into the FTA/CI STB IC market. This report will examine the key players in the FTA/CI STB IC industry and the major trends in new product development.
Applications for STB ICs to Increase
The general trend in FTA/CI DVB-S STB SOC IC products is towards the integration not only of back-end elements -including MPEG/TS demux, microprocessor (CPU and DSP), MPEG decoder, NTSC/PAL encoder and Audio DAC, but also front-end elements such as the frequency synthesizer, demodulator, and FEC device. With digital satellite TV reception functions already integrated onto single SOC devices, the next stage in the evolution of FTA/CI DVB-S STB ICs will emphasize the provision of support for a wider range of applications. IC suppliers are already beginning to integrate digital photo frame (USB 2.0) and MP3 decoding capabilities into their new-generation IC solutions, along with support for the JPEG, H.264, and DivX multimedia formats. IC suppliers anticipate that, by increasing the level of value-added that their products provide, they will be able to secure more orders from STB manufacturers.
Taiwanese IC Makers' Worldwide Market Share to Rise
The fierce competition in the FTA/CI DVB-S STB market has pushed prices steadily downwards. Under these circumstances, STB IC suppliers need to provide steadily higher levels of SOC integration to attract the interest of STB manufacturers.
The integration of the front-end demodulator and back-end MPEG decoder functions into a single SOC device is now a standard requirement for FTA-CI DVB-S STB ICs. To secure competitive advantage, IC suppliers need to continue refining their designs while also making their prices more competitive.
Superior cost-down capability has always been one of the main strengths of the Taiwanese IC design industry. Taiwanese design houses such as ALi and Cheertek have already rolled out highly integrated FTA/CI DVB-S STB SOC solutions that are also reasonably priced, and are beginning to secure orders for these products from STB manufacturers in Taiwan, China, Korea, and Europe. It can be anticipated that Taiwanese IC suppliers' share of the global FTA/CI DVB-S STB IC market will continue to rise in the future.
Appendix
Glossary of Terms
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FTA |
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Free to Air |
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Demo. |
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Demodulator |
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FEC |
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Forward Error Correction |
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SOC |
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System On Chip |
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CAS |
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Conditional Access System |
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CI |
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Common I nterface |
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EPG |
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Electronic Program Guide |
List of Companies
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Ali |
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揚智科技 |
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Brooktree |
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Cheertek |
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其樂達 |
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Comstream |
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Conexant |
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Fujitsu |
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Haier IC |
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海爾集成 |
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NationalChip |
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國芯科技 |
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NEC |
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Trumpion Microelectronics |
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創品電子 |
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Rockwell International |
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STMicroelectroincs |
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Winbond |
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華邦電子 |