Home Networking Hits The Market

electronic design
http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/ArticleID/19110/19110.html
06-19-08, by Richard Gawel

The number of standards and their potential for incompatibility may seem to doom the market. But alliances and companies alike are charging ahead, and they’re already enjoying significant success.

According to HDMI Licensing LLC, more than 750 consumer electronics and PC manufacturers have adopted HDMI. More than 229 million devices incorporating HDMI are expected to ship in 2008, with an installed base of nearly 1.2 billion HDMIenabled devices projected by 2010, according to market research company In-Stat.

The HomePNA organization says that 5 million HomePNA 3.1 chip sets targeting IPTV use over coax and phone wires have been shipped since the standard was adopted. The group also has certified almost 30 products and continues to host plugfests designed to increase HomePNA’s development and expansion. It is the only home networking standard supported by the International Telecommunication Union.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance is surging as well, with product shipments doubling from 8 million to 16 million between March 2007 and March 2008. The group counts more than 75 leading companies among its members, including Cicso, Comcast, GE Security, Intel, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung, and Texas Instruments.

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) doesn’t want to be left behind either. According to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, about 90% of U.S. households are wired for coax cable, with more than 300 million television sets and 100 million cable and satellite homes. Screen Digest says that there are 70 million cable subscribers in Europe, and China will see 180 million digital cable subscribers in 2009. That’s a big worldwide market, and MoCA is ready for it.