ABI looks in the crystal ball, sees lots of HTPCs
Break out the salt, because ABI Research is making predictions on the complexion of your HT rig in 2013. Considering how long we've been hearing about convergence of PCs and HT, the prediction of a rise in HTPCs isn't exactly going out on a limb. But give the researchers credit, as they've got the guts to put a number on the trend -- 25 million, to be exact. ABI predicts that the path of PC + extenders will need to undergo some refinement before they really take off and that full-blown custom HTPC rigs will remain a fringe market. We've felt the sting on both of those counts. We know things will get better integrated, but we think that vendors will have to deliver entire end-to-end solutions for the HTPC to really take off en masse; "mix and match" approaches that rely on conformity between vendors doesn't have a great track record, or simply leave consumers baffled. A lot of improvement can happen in five years, and we don't want to see ABI's figure to represent 25 million unhappy consumers. [Image courtesy ShamanCrystal]
Filed under: Industry, Media PCs, Media streamers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jduley @ Mar 25th 2008 8:40AM
5 years? Really? Come on, someone hook me up today!
Aaron Smith @ Mar 25th 2008 10:29AM
And I'll bet it'll take every bit of 5 years before they get it right. I have a Vista media center and a xBox 360, and while the media center interface is really nice it's lack of support for ripped dvd's and other formats out of the box keeps me from integrating it completely. I want to be able to watch and record all my shows, and rip all my dvd's and eventually blu-ray disks to my computer and then stream them through my 360 onto my tv. I don't want to convert all these files to other formats as that just deteriorates the audio and video. For music and pictures media center and 360 is fine. I want all my pictures, music, tv shows and movies on one box and pull it all up on one interface while I'm sitting on the couch. It's not quite there yet but I hope it is soon.
ZeitgeistXIII @ Mar 25th 2008 11:45AM
I still think BYOHTPC is the best way to go. Most HTPCs cant game for anything (not even doom)and the audio quality is pretty dodgy as well. So mine is dual 7950gtx, Auzentech soundcard, with an older P4 3.6. I use it for ripped movies and music plus the 360 talks to it pretty well. All in 1080p
andy @ Mar 25th 2008 1:06PM
I'll be jumping in as soon as AMD fixes the no HD audio via HDMI issue in their current 790 northbridge/ 700 southbridge setup.
I hate how the 360 only want to do "media extender". It should be able to look at any shared drive ala xbox media center. Too bad that isn't HD, or I wouldn't need a HTPC.