More than 1.7 billion devices that can access...

OTT devices is “enough OTT systems to accommodate almost one out of every four people on the planet,” said IHS. But the market is projected to grow another 20 percent next year, reaching 2.67 billion by 2017, it said. Most OTT devices are either PCs or smartphones, accounting together for 836 million of 2012’s 1.43 billion OTT boxes, IHS said. Around 480 million non-PC, non-smartphone devices will ship in 2013, a 30 percent increase over 2012, the release said. Handheld game platforms are the only OTT device not growing in sales, IHS said. “Like other single-tasking systems, the space is under attack from more broadly based general-purpose equipment, primarily smartphones and tablets,” said IHS. Digital media adapters are suffering from the same affliction, it said, and make up less than 1 percent of the total OTT market in 2013. However, as the market grows, OTT devices might face technical challenges, IHS said. New media coding standards have stiffer computational requirements than previous ones, and strain mobile devices’ battery power. “Such challenges present rich opportunities for semiconductor suppliers as new standards and technologies continue to expand the market,” it said.