Buzz Continues To Build Around MPEG-4 AVCs, But MPEG-2 Still Strong

Scottsdale, AZ -- Enthusiasm is still building around the nascent MPEG-4 AVC market, but the use of advanced video decoders does not mean that MPEG-2-only decoders will disappear from the market soon, reports In-Stat. In fact, MPEG-2 unit shipments are expected to experience growth until 2009, though declining ASPs for MPEG-2 solutions will cause revenues to decline, the high-tech market research firm says.

"Buzz is really all there is to MPEG-4 AVC currently," says Michelle Abraham, In-Stat analyst. "We expect the market will be small in 2005, as many decoder IC suppliers have been conducting interoperability testing with encoder suppliers. We expect widespread availability of MPEG-4 AVC decoder ICs beginning in 2006."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

• The worldwide MPEG Video IC market revenues for 2004 were US$ 3.8 billion.
• MPEG-4 Video ICs will appear in more and more mobile handsets as mobile video delivery systems based on standards like DVB-H and DMB are deployed around the world.
• In the MPEG-2 consumer encoder IC market, NEC Electronics had the top unit share in 2004 for the second year in a row, mainly due to its design wins in DVD recorders.
• STMicroelectronics had the highest MPEG Video IC revenue again in 2004, for the fifth straight year.

The report, "MPEG Video ICs: The Buzz Around MPEG-4 AVC" (#IN0501839MI), includes analysis of worldwide market share for manufacturers of MPEG video semiconductors in calendar 2004, and explores the future of the MPEG chip market. The report also includes forecasts for IC video decoders by units and revenue through 2009.

SOURCE: In-Stat