There was a lot of press coverage last week around HD set-top shortages at Cox and Verizon, and a lot of the blame seemed to fall squarely on Motorola’s shoulders. Naturally, I’m a bit peeved.
Here’s a little perspective and context. First, HD demand skyrocketed in the last few months, and that’s a good thing. It means consumers love HDTV, service providers are bringing in more revenue from HD offerings, and Motorola is in a business that continues to grow.
Second, Motorola is very good at churning out set-tops. Last quarter alone the company shipped 1.25 million HD set-tops, reaching a total of 15 million HD set-tops and 69 million total digital video set-tops shipped to date. In comparison, Scientific Atlanta’s site (now part of Cisco) says it has shipped a total of “more than 30 million digital set-tops,” and TiVo’s total set-top shipments appear to ring in at around 4.1 million. Temporary shortages or no, it should be impossible to ignore the success Motorola has had with HD set-tops.
One final note, The Wall Street Journal did include one positive quote from Cox (subscription required) in a story last Tuesday. I think it bears repeating.
“Motorola worked very closely with us to resolve this quickly and we are satisfied with their efforts,” said Cox spokesman David Grabert in an email. “This will imminently be a non-issue for Cox customers.”
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