Pace reports record results

Set-top box vendor Pace has reported revenues of £526.5m (€608.5m) for the six months ending June 30, up from £231.1m a year earlier. Profit before tax increased to £34.3m from £11.2m.

During the six months, Pace shipped 8.5 million units, compared with 2.8 million for the same period last year. The company said over 490 million set-tops are expected to be shipped into the pay-TV market between 2009 and 2012 with an estimated value of over US$56bn (€39.4bn). High definition TV is the fastest growing set-top market segment, according to Pace. In 2008 17% of global shipments into the pay-TV market were for HD boxes, and by 2013 it will be over 35%, the company predicts.

Pace also announced that Sky Deutschland, formerly Premiere, has deployed its DS830 set-top boxes to deliver HD services to customers in Germany and Austria. Meanwhile, Nordic pay-TV operator Canal Digital is the first customer to use MultiDweller, Pace’s last-mile technology solution for the distribution of digital TV and broadband.