Digital TV homes to double in 5 years

SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- The number of households equipped with digital televisions will double by 2016 from last year with more than 30 countries expected to become completely digital, a report said Sunday.
The number of digital TV homes is forecast to reach 1.19 billion in 2016, covering 80 percent of worldwide households, according to the report by Digital TV Research Ltd.
The figure compares with a 42.5 percent digital penetration rate at the end of 2010, it said. The estimates are based on the company's analysis of 73 countries.
By 2016, 33 countries will be entirely digital, compared with only Finland in December 2010, it added.
The report estimated that among the 613 million digital TV homes to be added between 2010 and 2016, 41.8 percent, or 256 million, of the new digital homes will have digital cable.
The number of analog TV homes will drop to 297 million by the end of 2016 with the penetration rate shrinking to 20 percent, it said, compared with 780 million and a 57.5 percent penetration rate in 2010.
By region, Asian countries are forecast to be the fastest growing market for digital TVs. Among the upcoming 613 million digital homes, 388 million will be located in the Asia Pacific region, the British researcher said.
By 2016, China, which became the largest digital TV household nation last year, will account for more than a quarter of the global digital TV homes in 2016, followed by the United States and India, it said.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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