The number of IPTV households is expected to increase from 80 million in 2012 to 117 million in 2017
Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV platform has expanded share in IPTV middleware market to 23% by the first half of 2013 despite competition from many small and regional players, according to a report by ABI Research.
According to the report, the number of IPTV households is expected to increase from 80 million in 2012 to 117 million in 2017, on the back of strong growth in Asia-Pacific region.
The report revealed that market is now beginning to be fragmented with the arrival of many small and regional players
Chinese system integrators ZTE and Huawei are emerging as stronger players in China, by supplying IPTV boxes to China Telecom, which uses boxes from regional suppliers.
ABI Research practice director for TV & video Sam Rosen said: "There is a strong split in the IPTV middleware market between system integrators providing an entire solution and specialists in applications and customer experience."
"With the exception of Cisco, who recently purchased NDS, the system integrator's role in customer experience will likely decline over the next few years; instead, this role will be left to client-centric middleware companies with better user experience."
"In addition to Microsoft, companies such as Viaccess-Orca (a subsidiary of France Telecom), Netgem, and others, all have a distinct philosophy on how to create an IPTV system."
"Overall growth in IPTV households, however, means that few companies are likely to lose out."
