PVR Shipments Tripled In 2003

According to In-Stat/mDR, worldwide unit shipments of PVR products grew from 1.5 million in 2002 to 4.6 million in 2003. More than 11 million unit shipments are projected for 2004.

Despite a slow start with consumers, Personal Video Recorder (PVR) products are finally making headway, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). Despite an almost continuous stream of rave reviews from satisfied PVR users over the past 5 years, most consumers still failed to see why they needed to hook up yet another set top box to their TV set. However, according to the high-tech market research firm, the PVR market hit its stride in the past year, as worldwide annual unit shipments tripled and increasing numbers of consumers became aware of the benefits of time-shifting TV programming.

According to Mike Paxton, a Senior Analyst with In-Stat/MDR, there are two primary reasons for the recent growth of PVR unit shipments. “First, the integration of PVR capabilities into DVD players and recorders has been a big success. Demand for these combination DVD-PVR products has proven to be especially strong in Japan, and it is likely that a growing percentage of DVD recorders shipped worldwide over the next few years will incorporate PVR functionality. The second reason for PVR growth has been the rising demand from satellite and cable TV operators for PVR-enabled set top boxes. Many pay-TV service providers, especially in North America, are rolling out PVR products to increase subscriber revenues and to keep their current customers from defecting to competitive service providers.” In-Stat/MDR expects that these two market drivers will continue to spur growth for PVR products over the next several years.

In-Stat/MDR has also found that:
Worldwide unit shipments of PVR products grew from 1.5 million in 2002 to 4.6 million in 2003.  In 2004, In-Stat/MDR projects that unit shipments will top 11 million.

Combination DVD-PVR products and PVR-enabled satellite set top boxes will continue to drive growth in 2004, accounting for almost 80% of total unit shipments.

PVR-enabled cable set top boxes are becoming increasingly popular in North America, and cable TV operators have already installed the products in over half a million households.

The report, Personal Video Recorders Expand Their Reach (#IN0401238ME), discusses the functionality of today’s PVR products and provides an in-depth look at key PVR manufacturers, leading service providers, and the important trends that are shaping the rapidly growing PVR market. The report provides worldwide PVR unit shipment and revenue forecasts, unit shipments to specific geographic regions, and unit shipment forecasts by PVR product segment, to include DBS set top boxes, stand-alone PVR products, cable set top boxes, DVD-PVR combination devices, and other emerging PVR products.