[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-03-11] U.S. research firm In-Stat is predicting that revenues from multi-screen content platforms will reach $21 billion by 2015. This is one of the key findings of some new research the company has done.

   It predicts that Asia will have the most active multiscreen households by 2015. It also predicts that more than 270 million households will be using some kind of multiscreen service by 2015. It also says Latin America, India and emerging markets will primarily use mobile data services.

   This research follows on from some other research that In-Stat did last month looking at the digital satellite set-top box market. It expects this market to pick up after a barren few years. In-Stat says while the worldwide satellite set-top box market has experienced slow to negative growth in recent years, as both the number of subscribers and the conversion from SD to HD has impacted the market, this trend is about to change. It predicts that that digital satellite set-top box unit shipments will grow by nearly 14 percent in 2012.

   In-Stat says SD DVRs will disappear in some markets in favor of HD DVRs, although it says it expects them to remain in some cost-conscious markets. In terms of its research on the set-top box market, In-Stat says Pace was the top supplier of satellite set-top boxes in 2010 with Technicolor and EchoStar following. There is no change here from 2009.

   “New technology in many ways is powering the expected uptick in unit shipments. Increasingly powerful processors enable a more personalized viewing experience with downloadable apps and recommendation engines. An improved graphics capability also enhances the user experience, providing satellite service providers with a new feature set to compete for subscribers,” says Michelle Abraham, Research Director, In-Stat.

This is undoubtedly good news for the satellite industry, as more set-top boxes coming into the market, particularly HD boxes, will fuel the demand for capacity.