14 DAY TRIAL // We've just learned that analysts expect 4K UHD TVs to grow in shipment by a factor of 40 this year, and now we get to learn what they expect from the market of multimedia home gateways (MHGs).
Multimedia home gateways (MHGs) is a general term used to refer to products that combine the abilities of smartphones/tablets and set-top boxes or media players.
Smart TVs are part of this category, one might say, since they are IP-connectable devices not limited to cable channel sets.
In 2011, only 90,000 MHGs sold. The number is set to jump to 9.6 million by 2015.
"The MHG is a server platform able to host a range of in-home services," said Stephen Froehlich, principal analyst for IHS.
"Beyond Wi-Fi, some of the major services include gigabit broadband, transcoding, large applications, graphics processors, content storage and edge caching. The hardware and software requirements for each MHG are quite different from one operator to the next, making MHGs a profitable point-of-value creation for STB manufacturers and their suppliers for the foreseeable future."