Vista will drive uptake of PC tuners, says In-Stat

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 08 May 2007 02:24

Your IT - Home IT

Market researcher In-Stat has praised Microsoft for encouraging PC-TV tuners to make their products Vista-compatible and says that shipments of the units should pass the 50 million mark by 2011.

PC-TV tuning has been a possibility for PCs since the mid-1980s, and In-Stat estimates that, in 2006 a total of 15.8 million PC-TV tuners were being used by consumers to add to their multimedia PC experience.

It says that, while there are several factors that are stimulating the growth of PC-TV tuners, "Microsoft has done a yeoman's job by encouraging PC-TV tuner vendors to centralise their drivers through the Windows Update program...In-Stat anticipates that PC-TV tuning will be an important service enabled by Vista."

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."

According to In-Stat analyst, Chris Kissel, hybrid USB TV tuners, PC-TV tuners for free-to-air satellite TV services, and pay-TV capable tuners will also have significant market shares."

In-Stat estimates that, in 2011, PC-TV tuner sales will generate $US3.1 billion in revenues worldwide.: 37 percent from Europe and 32 percent from Asia.