The worldwide PC TV tuner market will grow from about 15 million units 2006 to 41 million units in 2011, according to ABI Research. Although this represents a solid growth curve, the TV tuner card market hasn"t taken off quite as quickly as some industry commentators expected it to, Steve Wilson, principal consumer electronics analyst of ABI Research, said.
That has less to do with technology than with consumers" awareness of their possibilities, and broader market support from studios, operators, and the FCC, Wilson indicated. The technology is pretty much in place; the questions that need to be resolved before the market see really rapid uptake relate to the user-experience and the integration – via digital media adapters – with the rest of the consumer electronics that people have in the home, Wilson noted.