H.264 decoders are beginning to appear in many solutions and the compression scheme is becoming more popular. Satellite set top boxes continue to be the largest market for H.264 decoder ICs. In addition more and more DTVs are using H.264 decoder ICs rather than only MPEG-2. As a result In-Stat expects H.264 decoder ICs to grow at an annual rate in excess of 20% through 2013.

“Advanced compression, such as H.264, is becoming increasingly popular due to its lower bit rate and smaller file size that especially helps networked video solutions,” says Michelle Abraham, Principal Analyst. “The proliferation of video applications, such as user generated content and online video streaming, embedded DVRs and mobile video are serving to increase demand for low cost, high-quality encoders.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Worldwide H.264 chip unit shipments will increase by 51% in 2010 over 2009.
• Broadcom was the largest supplier of H.264 decoder ICs for the satellite set top box market.
• STMicroelectronics continues to maintain leadership in the SD MPEG-2 cable market
• MediaTek remained the top supplier of DVD decoder ICs
• Renesas lead the market in Blu-ray SoCs in 2009

Recent In-Stat research, MPEG ICs Grow with the Consumer Electronics Market (#IN1004696MMT), covers the worldwide market for MPEG integrated circuits in consumer electronics. It includes:

• Examination of MPEG IC markets for broadcast and professional applications, semi-professional and industrial applications, and consumer electronics—both line-powered and mobile.
• Worldwide forecasts for multiple types of MPEG ICs for several types of applications through 2014.
• Companies mentioned in the report:, ALi Corporation, Ambarella, Broadcom, C2 Microsystems, Cavium Networks , Hisilicon, Intel Corporation, Magnum Semiconductor, Maxim Integrated Products, MediaTek, NTT Electronics Corporation, RealTek, Renesas, Sigma Designs, STMicroelectronics, Stretch, Sunplus, Texas Instruments, Trident Microsystems, ViXS Systems, Zenverge, and Zoran.