The combined markets for networked personal video recorders (nPVRs) and for space-shifting devices should grow to over $20 million worldwide by 2012.
Meanwhile, in the North American market alone, the standalone/set-top digital video recorder (DVR) sector earned more than $2 billion in 2005 and should quadruple by 2012.
Frost & Sullivan in a new report said providers are likely to extend value-added services such as providing network personal video recorder and space-shifting applications to subscribers. While the impact of this will influence exponential growth in each of these application markets, at the present stage, these markets function independently and are highly restrained by content rights disputes.
Service operators worldwide are setting up infrastructure to provide time-shifting and the ability to digitally record content and view it at a later time, which is likely to boost the growth of the network personal video recorder markets, according to F&S.
For MSOs, the company said, while the DVR works as an effective tool to aid digital and high-definition (HD) penetration and capitalize on premium subscribers, the network PVR has emerged as a cost-effective way of offering time-shifting to the mass subscriber base and bringing on more subscribers to the digital platform.