Hardware
DAS Phase III drives STB demand in Q3 2015; India accounts for 97% shipments
MUMBAI: The set-top-box (STB) market in the SAARC region has registered record growth in third quarter of 2015, as rapid digitisation in the Phase III cities of Digital Addressable Systems (DAS) in India is driving the demand for STBs.
With pay-TV industry in all major SAARC countries moving toward digitisation – mandatory or voluntary – STBs of all kind from SD to HDTV and hybrid boxes are witnessing steady and robust growth.
According to new research report from Dataxis, “The STB Market in SAARC countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)-Q32015,” STB shipments to SAARC countries have witnessed 73 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth during the Q3 2015. In the quarter under consideration, 7.34 million STBs were shipped in the SAARC region with an estimated value of $176 million.
India leads the STB shipments for the period, accounting for about 97 per cent of the total shipments to the SAARC region in the September ended quarter of 2015, according to Dataxis.
Skyworth tops the STB shipments to SAARC in the Q3 2015. The company reportedly has plans to locally manufacture STBs for the Indian market.
Local manufacturing in India, which accounted for just five per cent of total STBs sold during the first and second phase of seeding, is showing steady growth in the third phase. Dataxis estimates that the sale of made-in-India STBs will witness growth up to 15 per cent in the fourth phase of digitisation.
“Local STB manufacturing in India has increased almost fourfold in the third quarter of 2015, and this is in line with our expectations. As the deadline for the third phase digitisation nears, there is high demand for STBs from the MSOs and most of the independent and small size operators are coming forward to partner with indigenous brands,” said Dataxis media analyst Sreeja VN.
The Indian government was also proactive during the period by promoting the make in India campaign in the sector. The decisions by three major DTH players namely Airtel Digital TV, Dish DTH and Videocon D2H to opt for indigenous brands have also boosted the Indian STB industry.
Another notable trend, according to the Dataxis Research, is the increase in demand for High-Definition (HD) and Ultra HD STBs in the region. Dataxis’s analysis of STB shipment for the Q2 2015 and Q3 2015, depicts steady growth in the volume of HD STBs shipped to India. The rise in the number of HD and UHD STBs has also contributed to a rise in the average selling price of STBs to the country.
The key STB vendors for the quarter are Technicolor, Skyworth, Changhong, Huawei and Coship (international vendors), and Mybox, One-eIGHT technologies, Trend Electronics, Ridsys, and Willet Communications (domestic vendors).
Hardware
India clears Rs 1.6 lakh crore semiconductor projects under Semicon India
Ten projects cleared as production begins and design ecosystem gathers pace
NEW DELHI: India’s push to become a global electronics powerhouse is gaining momentum, with the Semicon India Programme driving the creation of a full-fledged semiconductor ecosystem from design to manufacturing.
Launched in 2022, the programme aims to build capabilities across the entire value chain, including chip design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging. In just four years, the government has approved 10 semiconductor projects with a combined investment commitment of around Rs 1.6 lakh crore.
Two of these facilities have already begun commercial production, including units led by Micron Technology Inc. and Kaynes Technology India Limited. Two more plants are expected to go live later this year, signalling that India’s chip ambitions are moving from blueprint to factory floor.
The broader electronics manufacturing story has also seen sharp growth over the past decade. Production has jumped from roughly Rs 1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to about Rs 12 lakh crore in 2024-25, while exports have surged nearly eightfold. Mobile phone manufacturing, once heavily import-dependent, now meets almost all domestic demand and has become a major export driver.
Alongside manufacturing, the government is investing heavily in design capabilities. Through access to advanced chip design tools provided free to 315 universities, students and researchers have clocked over 200 lakh hours of usage. This effort has already resulted in 211 chip tape-outs from 75 institutions.
Support for startups is also picking up pace. Twenty-four chip design projects have been approved, targeting sectors such as surveillance, energy, communications and IoT. Of these, 14 companies have collectively raised over Rs 650 crore in venture funding, while several designs have progressed to fabrication, including at advanced nodes.
To strengthen supply chains, India has also signed semiconductor cooperation agreements with countries including the United States, Japan, the European Union, Singapore and the Netherlands. These partnerships aim to reduce global dependencies while boosting domestic capabilities.
The employment impact is equally significant. The electronics sector now supports an estimated 25 lakh jobs, with mobile manufacturing alone accounting for nearly half. As more semiconductor units come online under the India Semiconductor Mission, indirect job creation across supply chains is expected to rise further.
Sharing these updates in Parliament, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology minister of state Jitin Prasada underscored the government’s focus on building a resilient, end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem.
With factories taking shape, designs moving to silicon and investments flowing in, India’s semiconductor story is steadily shifting gears from ambition to execution.
