The global IPTV market will grow to $49 billion in
service revenues and 113 million subscribers in 2015 as multi-screen video
usage drives wireless services to new highs, according to MRG.
Systems revenue for the 7 key CapEx IPTV products
analyzed will grow to US$4.8 billion in 2015, with STBs (set-top boxes)
representing about 60 percent.
As consumers add Wi-Fi for using smart devices within
their homes, market growth continues largely due to trends toward mobile
lifestyle habits of 18-55-year-olds.
Based on semiannual updates of major global Operators and
their differentiating services and updated subscriber counts, Europe remains
ahead of Asia in 2015 in IPTV subscribers, partially due to continued
regulatory confusion in Asia.
By 2015 worldwide, at least 25 IPTV Operators will have
over 1 million subscribers, with 9 having over 3 million, the U.S. having 2 Operators
with over 7.5 million each and Europe having 12 IPTV Operators with over 1
million each.
Eastern Europe shows noteworthy resilience and innovation
as illustrated by Romania’s 141percent subscriber growth over one year ago.
Smart TVs are still not impacting overall STB
penetration, due to the difficulty of TV makers in getting enough
content-rights and due to the slow replacement cycle of TVs in most parts of
the world (making Smart TVs obsolete for new services).
Generally IPTV Operators are using integrated hybrid
services (merging Satellite, DTT [Digital Terrestrial], IPTV and OTT [Streaming
Video]) both defensively and offensively, often using a combination of these to
supplement their IPTV services in an integrated EPG.
By offering integrated hybrid services, IPTV Operators
are able to offer additional integrated services not available on Smart TVs.
Vodafone Germany, for example, is offering IPTV and Satellite, while using
Broadband to offer VOD. In Australia, Telstra is using DTT for linear TV and
the customers’ Broadband service to deliver (streaming) movies from its BigPond
service.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
