[SatBroadcasting] Demand for satellite STBs in emerging markets, such as India and China, will drive STB shipments in 2010 as many advanced markets recover from the global economic slowdown.

According to the recently-published IMS Research report The Top 12 Emerging Digital TV Markets – 2010 Edition, Brazil, China, India, and Indonesia will account for more than 40 percent of all pay and free-to-air (FTA) satellite STBs shipped worldwide in 2010. Emerging markets have a larger share of global shipments for several reasons, notes analyst Anna Maxbauer, author of the report. “India and Indonesia have substantial markets for free-to-air DTH, and India’s numerous pay-satellite operators continue to grow rapidly. China’s FTA satellite project and a significant contraction in the number of operable FTA satellite STBs have produced a spike in demand, and as result China now accounts for close to 20 percent of the world’s DTH STB shipments.” Though it is expected that China’s appetite for DTH STBs will shrink over the next several years, India and Indonesia’s share of global STB shipments is forecast to grow. “The share of Indian TV households on the DTH platform is forecast to reach almost 50 percent by the end of 2014,” adds Maxbauer. “Indonesia’s DTH households grow nearly 7 percent per year. In the long term, growth of the global satellite platform will come down to what happens in emerging markets.”