There’s a new set-top box entering the homes of pay-TV subscribers, also known as the home media gateway. While it’s currently just a small portion of the worldwide set-top box market, home media gateways are estimated to exceed 24 million units by 2017.According to a recent research study commissioned by MRG, unit shipments of home media gateway products are on track to reach a whopping 10 million this year, topping the 7.7 million units shipped in 2012. Moreover, MRG predicts that home media gateway product revenue will increase from $2.3 billion last year to $3 billion by the end of 2013.

“Unit shipments of home media gateway products are on track to grow rapidly,” said senior analyst Mike Paxton. “However, the product segment is currently just a small portion of the worldwide set-top box market. For example, in 2013 home media gateway product shipments are projected to account for just four percent of total set-top box unit shipments.”

Home media gateways blend traditional linear TV with TV Everywhere (TVE) services, offering features such as multi-room personal video recording and IP video streaming. The products are attractive to set-top box manufacturers because of their high average sales prices (ASPs) – currently, ASPs for home media gateway products come in at around $300 per box. However, the high price limits its penetration to regions of the world that have high-income households. In fact through 2015, it’s estimated that almost all home media gateway product deployment will be limited to North American and Europe.