Pace Named World's #1 Supplier of Set-Tops to Pay-TV Industry, Beating Out Motorola and Technicolor

UK-based set-top box company, Pace, contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that IMS Research has named it the world's largest supplier of set-top boxes to the pay-TV industry, beating out Motorola and Technicolor (formerly Thomson), which in 2008 had been numbers one and two respectively. According to the company, IMS Research's figures show that a major increase in its set-top sales propelled Pace from third place in 2008 to first place in 2009. The figures show Pace with a 7% share (i.e. the same as in 2008) of the market in 2009; Motorola with a 6.1% share (down from 8.8% the prior year); Technicolor with a 5.4% share (down from 7.5% the prior year) and Cisco with a 3.9% share (up from 3.8% the prior year).

Pace, whose customers include Comcast, BT and UPC Broadband, among others, claims to have experienced "incredible growth" over the past three years, creating and delivering set-top box technology--especially HD, DVR and hybrid devices--for over 100 pay-TV providers worldwide. "This is an incredible achievement for our company," Pace CEO, Neil Gaydon, said in a prepared statement. "It is testament to the continuous innovation and focus in delivering on our strategy to lead in converged home entertainment. We have worked very hard to build a customer-centric organization, working closely with our partners and consistently delivering outstanding, innovative products. Our people and culture are the driving force behind our becoming the world's number one."

According to Pace, 2009 was a record year for the company, during which, it claims, it further increased its revenues and profitability, expanded its global customer base, moved into new markets, developed new technologies, improved efficiency, and built on its successful integration of Philips' set-top box business (which it acquired in April, 2008).

In other Pace news: The company has released what it claims is the first Freeview+ HD DVR, the Philips HDT8520. According to the company, the £299 box comes with a 500GB hard drive, providing up to 250 hours of SD and up to 125 hours of HD recording capacity; dual tuners; Ethernet ports; 1080p HD upscaling; automatic installation and channel updating; one-touch and series recording; and a three-hour buffer. The box has been designed to operate "almost silently," Pace says, "avoiding the whirring noise so often associated with recording devices"; and has an energy consumption of 15W in active mode.