Arris sets pace in set-top boxes

The demise of the UK's indigenous electronics sector continues apace, with the recent announcement that US set-top box and cable infrastructure specialist Arris is paying $2.1bn for Pace.

Pace, a UK pioneer in STBs and not long ago the largest global supplier with a wide range for both satellite and cable operators, has now been overtaken by the likes of Cisco and Arris itself.

The deal is just the latest in a series of high-profile acquisitions by both companies three years ago, when Google decided to offload its Motorola Home STB business, the British company believed it had sealed the deal, only to be ultimately outbid by Arris. A year later, Pace did pull off a smaller acquisition in the US of Aurora Networks in a deal valued at just over $300 million.

It represents yet another major consolidation in the broadband and pay-tv technology sector, with STB makers under huge pressure to grow market share and become more innovative and competitive as more and more people watch TV via the internet or on their mobile devices.

Over-the-Top or OTT video and providers such as Netflix and Apple, as well as original content providers using OTT to bypass traditional pay-tv and going direct to the consumer, seem to be increasing in almost all countries.

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See a comparison table of selected Android-based TV set-top box suppliers on GlobalSources.com