1/19/2010 -- Cisco Systems Inc.'s IPTV set-top-box (STB) business had been a reliable cash cow since Cisco acquired the former Scientific-Atlanta four years ago.

Then came 2009, which produced the first real dip in an otherwise runaway STB market segment. STB revenues were off by 6 percent year-over-year in Q3 of 2009, according to market watcher Infonetics Research.

Cisco is currently No. 2 in the STB space, where it trails market leader Motorola Inc. (U.K.-based Pace Plc. is No. 3.)

"The growth pace slowed for new video service subscribers and fewer existing subscribers upgraded to premium services, two unifying trends defining the IPTV and video market in the third quarter," said analyst Jeff Heynen in a statement.

Cisco had better not bank on overtaking Motorola any time soon, either, Heynen cautioned. "Holiday shopping and new purchasers of HDTV sets will likely result in an up-tick in premium service upgrades, but subscriber growth across the board will be tepid until macroeconomic conditions improve."

While the STB segment fell off, the market for IPTV infrastructure services -- a segment in which Cisco (along with Motorola and a slew of other players) has also been flexing its muscles -- notched a remarkably good 2009.

True, Infonetics concedes, video infrastructure revenues dropped off from Q2 to Q3 2009, but video infrastructure revenues are up 90 percent year-over-year.

What's more, spending on infrastructure technologies like Video on Demand (VoD), streaming content servers and edge quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) gear is expected to grow at a consistent rate going forward. --Stephen Swoyer