Semiconductor suppliers look set to benefit from rapidly growing sales of digital televisions with chip revenues expected to double from 2006 to 2011, according to market watcher iSuppli.

The global market for digital TV semiconductors is predicted to rise to $14.2bn by 2011, expanding from $7.1bn in 2006.

Total semiconductor revenue includes the chips on DTV audio/video boards as well as those in other segments of the televisions, including the input/output circuitry, the drivers, audio and the power supply. It also encompasses voltage regulators, LCD drivers, backlight inverters, plasma display panel drivers and the digital light processing, LCD and liquid crystal on silicon chips for rear-projection televisions.

Why is it looking so good?
There is a basic consumer preference for flat-panel TVs, which are inherently digital, but just as significant are the various government-mandated transitions from analogue-to-digital television which starts in US, on February 17, 2009, but will move quickly to the UK, Europe, Japan and Korea.
 
Most countries will convert to fully digital transmissions by 2015.

LCD panel prices have declined by more than 35 per cent during each of the past two years. “Price declines will not be so substantial in the years to come, but they have brought the price of flat-panel DTVs into an affordable range for a large number of consumers,” said iSuppli.

See also: Electronics Weekly's focus on Digital TV, a roundup of content related to the digital TV technologies and developments.