Pace passes Motorola on the set top, TiVo supplies Technicolor with PVR software

There were two big pieces of news in the set-top box business yesterday. First, CED reported that, based on preliminary numbers from IMS Research, Pace has overtaken Motorola to become the world's largest set-top box supplier overall (aggregating cable, satellite and IPTV shipments). If the final report confirms this finding, it's huge news. Motorola (and General Instrument, the company that Motorola initially purchased to get into the set-top box business) has been number one in STBs for as long as anyone can remember. According to IMS, the top five STB vendors are now Pace, Motorola, Technicolor (formerly Thomson,) Cisco and Humax.

In related news, TiVo will provide PVR software to Technicolor for its STBs. This announcement is potentially a huge win for TiVo, which has struggled in its efforts to get its PVR software deployed on set-top boxes other than its own. (There's a deal in place with Comcast, but the rollout has been incredibly slow.) Technicolor is the leader in supplying STBs to satellite operators worldwide.