Worldwide IPTV subscribers will total about 19.6 million this year, marking a 64 percent increase from the 12 million IPTV subscribers recorded in 2007, according to Gartner.
So this year, about 1.1 percent of worldwide households will be IPTV subscribers. By the end of 2012, according to Gartner, worldwide household penetration of IPTV will be 2.8 percent.
And worldwide IPTV revenue is projected to total $4.5 billion this year, a 93.5 percent increase compared with 2007’s revenue of $2.3 billion. Gartner forecasted that worldwide IPTV revenue would total $19 billion in 2012.
“The biggest change since 2007 is the rapid advent of new entrants making inroads in consumer video consumption and placing greater demands on IPTV operators to innovate,” said Gartner Research Director Elroy Jopling. “The video consumption field will become increasingly crowded.”
New competitors include portal players such as YouTube and Joost, and social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook. In addition, device manufacturers are offering their own Internet-based offerings, such as NeuLion and AppleTV, while some broadcasters are going directly to the consumer over the Internet, such as BBC’s iPlayer and NBC and Fox’s Hulu.com, Gartner said.
Additioanlly, over-the-top video providers, such as Amazon’s Video on Demand and Vudu, as well as video rental services, such as Netflix and Blockbuster, are developing, or have developed, a combined set-top box and video download service.
Geographically, Western Europe is the region with the largest number of IPTV subscribers, with about 8.2 million subscribers this year. Gartner expects Western Europe’s IPTV subscribers to grow to 18.8 million by 2012.
North America is the largest market for IPTV revenue. IPTV revenue in North America is forecasted to reach $2 billion this year and grow to $8 billion in 2012, according to Gartner.
“Before 2008, the IPTV operators’ emphasis had been to spread their footprint and effectively provide a “me too” solution to cable and satellite,” Jopling said. “In the future, especially in the developed markets, we will see an emphasis on innovation and differentiated pay-TV services.”
More Broadband Direct:
• Wave 7’s Farmer: Fiber providers shouldn’t fret about DOCSIS 3.0
• ISPs testify before Congress regarding online, targeted advertising
• Verizon audit finds grounding issues in New York
• ACA cites retransmission complaints as proof of broadcaster abuse
• Senate to FCC: Lay off cable
