PC-TV tuners will experience fast growth and the introduction of Windows Vista will likely give the market a boost, according to the research firm In-Stat. Initiatives made by Microsoft along with several other factors are stimulating the growth of PC-TV tuners. “Microsoft has done a yeoman’s job by encouraging PC-TV tuner vendors to centralize their drivers through the Windows Update program”, the research firm added. The firm also anticipates that PC-TV tuning will be an important service enabled by Vista.
“The most common PC-TV tuner will enable digital terrestrial television reception and be integrated in with the PC as part of a Microsoft Vista bundle,” says Chris Kissel, In-Stat analyst. “However, hybrid USB TV tuners, PC-TV tuners for free-to-air satellite TV services, and pay-TV capable tuners will have significant market shares.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• By 2011, In-Stat anticipates that 50.8 million PC-TV tuners will be sold worldwide.
• In 2011, PC-TV tuners will represent $3.1 billion in revenues worldwide.
• For 2011, 36.9% of all PC-TV Tuner revenues will come from end-users in Europe and 31.9% will come from end-users in Asia.

In-Stat’s Gerry Kaufhold will be presenting excerpts from this research at WinHEC 2007 May 17th in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The research firm contends that the increased use of PC-TV tuners is not just the convergence of software and hardware packages but is also “the result of the increasing savvy of PC consumers with PC products and the rise of social networks.”
A separate research conducted by Motorola says that close to half of all Europeans watch TV over the Internet.
“The data shows that there is a significant appetite from consumers for video, whether it is on a PC or through a set-top box,” said Karl Elliott, European marketing director for Motorola’s Connected Home Solutions division.
Both researches seem to picture that consumers want to take control of what they watch and when, and are embracing new technology.



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