PVRs To Emerge As A Force, Says Informa Media

PVR functionality has now been incorporated into many next generation set-top boxes but Personal TV – 2nd Edition claims that the real upsurge will not occur until 2005 when cable and DSL operators roll out network storage facilities in earnest. The primary effect of this will be that subscribers will not have to buy expensive equipment and will only have to pay a nominal monthly fee to the operator.

The United States currently has the largest number of PVR homes but will ultimately be eclipsed by the Asia Pacific market which will account for 40% of the worldwide total by 2010. Nonetheless, penetration levels outside North America are set to remain low.

By 2010, Informa predicts that 172 million homes, equivalent to 17% of all TV households, will have access to PVR technology. Digital cable is set to take over from Digital DTH as the most popular platform and will represent 62% of the global total by the end of the decade.

PVR Households By Region
	2001			2002			2005			2010
		Penetration (%)			Penetration (%)			Penetration (%)			Penetration (%)
	Households (000s)	Of Dig Homes	Of TV Homes	Households (000s)	Of Dig Homes	Of TV Homes	Households (000s)	Of Dig Homes	Of TV Homes	Households (000s)	Of Dig Homes	Of TV Homes
Asia Pacific	1	0	0	183	0	0	6,594	9	1	69,591	27	13
Europe	29	0	0	344	0	0	5,828	9	2	38,035	30	16
Latin America	16	0	0	64	0	0	1,326	9	1	10,404	25	10
North America	749	2	1	1,429	2	1	10,315	13	9	54,012	44	43
Total	798	1	0	2,020	1	0	24,062	10	2	172,043	31	17
Source: Informa Media, September 2002

Global PVR Homes By Platform (000s)
	2001	2002F	2005F	2010F
Digital Cable	200	576	13,181	106,895
DSL	1	15	965	11,309
Digital DTH	594	1,393	7,568	26,598
DTT	0	36	2,348	27,241
Total	795	2,020	24,062	172,043
Source: Informa Media, September 2002