Advanced Television

Consumers not ready for ‘cloud locker’

March 2, 2011

The industry is rapidly moving content solutions to the cloud, but consumer interest is not keeping pace, as less than 30 per cent of US broadband households find the digital locker an attractive alternative for music or video, according to Parks Associates.

“In terms of rich media, consumers want everything, everywhere, and companies are actively seeking ways to deliver,” said Laura Allen Phillips, research analyst, Parks Associates. “Netflix and Verizon’s Flexview offer cloud video services, and cloud-based music solutions include MOG, RealNetworks Unifi, and mSpot. However, taken as a whole, this market is fragmented, leaving consumers to cobble solutions together. Industry growth and consumer adoption rates of cloud-based services will rely on how effectively market players address this issue as well as other challenges.”

The benefits of cloud services are popular with consumers. Access via mobile devices is important, and over 50 per cent of US consumers consider multiroom access to music and video content and guaranteed replacement of lost media to be equally important features.

“Smartphones, mobile tablets, and connected consumer electronics open the door to new opportunities for innovative delivery and revenue models,” Allen Phillips said. “Motorola’s acquisition of Zector, which provides synchronisation and streaming solutions for digital media, is just one example of a large player expanding into the mobile cloud media space.”

Categories: Broadband, Consumer Behaviour, Middleware, Research