Advanced Television

HD arms race boosts IPTV

March 23, 2009

Communications market research firm Infonetics Research has released the fourth quarter (4Q08) edition of its IPTV and Switched Digital Video Equipment, Services, and Subscribers report.

Jeff Heynen, Directing Analyst, Broadband and Video, Infonetics Research, said that with service providers around the world countering decreasing revenue by cutting capex, one would assume video equipment providers would be hit just as hard as their network equipment colleagues; “That won’t be the case in 2009,” he countered. “Encoder providers like Harmonic, Tandberg (Ericsson), and Motorola will see a continued uptick in revenue this year as they benefit from the HD arms race currently going on in North America and soon to expand to Western Europe and parts of Asia.”

Report findings indicate that service provider and cable operator spending on IPTV and switched digital video (SDV) equipment increased 48 per cent in 2008 from the previous year, hitting $3.9 billion worldwide; The market was up 10 per cent sequentially in the final quarter of 2008; Spending was boosted by the shift to high definition (HD) formats and an increase in channel line-ups; Thanks to aggressive pricing on bundled service packages, there was healthy growth in IPTV subscriber numbers in EMEA, Asia Pacific, and North America Q4'08; The number of pure and hybrid IPTV subscribers more than doubled in 2008 to 25.4 million worldwide, and is expected to grow to about 45 million in 2009; Service providers are expected to increase their spending on IPTV equipment in the double-digit per cents over the next five years, with spending hitting a high of $8.9 billion in 2013.

Categories: IPTV, OTT, Research Library