The Direct-to-home ( DTH ) industry growth

channels , Video on demand and Digital

in India has surpassed all expectations by

Video Recording ( DVR ) have helped in

growing at an unprecedented pace ,

increasing the demand for Set Top Boxes

recently . The market has outpaced the

( STBs ).

analogue cables market in the country due to a soaring number of televisions in households , introduction of high definition

( HD ) services and various government interventions . This recent momentum has made way for a possibility that Indian DTH industry may supersede other global DTH markets in terms of the number of subscribers in near future . On the backdrop of all the above factors , the

Indian DTH market is expected to grow with a CAGR of around 16 % during the forecast period of 2016 to 2020 .

According to the “ Indian DTH Market

Outlook 2020 ”, report , rising competition amongst various players in Indian DTH market has led to a fall in installation prices and availability of a wide range of channel subscription options for users .

The decline in Set-Top Box ( STB ) prices has also made DTH services more viable for the Indian users . Besides , the mandated introduction of digitization of distribution has proved promising in bringing a large number of urban households within the ambit of digital domain .

At present , DTH subscribers are the major customers of STBs in India , however with the government directives to digitize entire pay TV network including cable TV platform ( which is majorly analog based ); the market for India STBs has gained a significant momentum . By another market report on STB the sale of Set Top Boxes is growing at a rapid pace in India with a compounded annual growth rate of 22.3 per cent . Indian Set Top Box ( STB ) market is expected to reach $ 1,877.3 million by

2017 , at a CAGR of 26.0 % from 2012-

2017 . In the past few years there has been a phenomenal shift from analogue cable signals to digital transmission using Set

Top Box ( STB ) as the underlying

Technology . The increase in digital TV homes has further boosted the growth of

Set Top Boxes ( STBs ). With the increasing number of television households in India , there is a great potential for Set Top Box industry in India not only for the foreign manufacturers but also for the local Indian manufacturers . Benefits like clarity of digital picture , the availability of more

Import of STBs in India

The Indian STB manufacturing market is affected by numerous Korean and Chinese vendors which offer STBs at very cheap rates . This onslaught is the reason that indigenous manufacturing is not picking up pace . Major companies are : Humax ,

Korean STB , Gospell , ALI , ABV ,

Changhong , Huawei and ZTE . India ’ s Set-top Box Market : Poised for a

Shakeup

India is well known as a huge market for set-top boxes ( STB ). In addition to a thriving direct-to-home satellite business , the country is nearing the end of the digitization of its cable TV system — an effort which saw a massive upgrade of cable boxes across the country . DTC estimates that over 195 million set-top boxes shipped in 2015 and 194 million in

2016 worldwide . But India ’ s sizeable STB market may be on the brink of a significant change . The first , and less significant , change would impact domestic

STB production . In a report to the Indian

Parliament , the Standing Committee on

Information Technology ( SCIT ) claimed that while the 19 Indian firms manufacturing STBs had the capacity to meet domestic demand , they were being undercut by foreign , mostly China-based , rivals . Indeed , an estimated four out of every five STBs sold in India originate abroad , leaving India ’ s domestic manufacturers out of the lion ’ s share of a

$ 750 million annual market for TV access devices .

According to SCIT , one reason why Indian producers were failing to keep up was a lack of government support . While Indian regulators have taken some steps to boost domestic business under the “ Make in

India ” campaign , such as reducing the

Value Added Tax on Indian-made STBs ,

China was supporting its own STB industry by providing generous loans to

Indian STB importers . Indian banks , on the other hand , were not offering generous terms to the country ’ s own manufacturers .

As a result , Chinese vendors were able to grab the lion ’ s share of the volume generated by India ’ s digitization .