IMS Research forecasts that the worldwide market for consumer DVD recorders will grow from 4.5 million units shipped in 2003, to 61 million units in 2009. The company expects that hard disk drives (HDDs) and digital tuners will be integrated into the majority of consumer DVD recorders by 2009.

Based on a recent study by IMS Research, consumer DVD recorders are likely to see significant consumer take-up beginning in 2004. In addition to falling prices, the integration of supplementary features, such as storage and DVR capability made possible by an internal hard disk drive, will be driving this market. For example, the proportion of DVD recorders with integrated HDDs is expected to exceed 65% of units shipped in Japan in 2004. The same category is forecast to surpass 50% of units shipped in the US in 2005, and in Western Europe in 2007.

It is likely that a large proportion of DVD recorders with HDDs will also have an integrated digital tuner, enabling seamless digital program viewing and recording. IMS Research forecasts that this convergence will be driven by the following:

1. Government initiatives, such as the FCC tuner mandate and plug-and-play in the US, as well as analog signal switch off deadlines for terrestrial programming in many countries.
2. Strong growth of digital television platforms, such as digital satellite in Japan and digital terrestrial across Europe.
3. Falling prices of multi-featured semiconductor components, enabling manufacturers to offer these multi-functional DVD recorders at reasonable prices (although at higher premiums than basic, stand-alone DVD recorders).

From IMS Research