The Asia Pacific is set to become the world's second largest video-on-demand (VOD) market after the US, accounting for over 22% of the US$103 billion global industry by 2020.
The Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) currently has a 13% share of the global VOD market, and by 2020 should reach $ 80.5 billion in revenues, according to research from FMI.
"China and India, two of the fastest growing economies, are witnessing high demand for smartphones; a key factor contributing to the demand for VOD services. The key players in the APEJ VOD services market include CombiTel, Biditech Solutions, CNTV, and Singtel," said the market research company.
Rising popularity of on-demand services among consumers and the increase in Internet connectivity in emerging nations is expected to fuel the global VOD market, which is forecast to reach $263 billion by 2016, up from $207 billion in 2014. North America will remain the major market for VOD services, though the Asia Pacific will take second place from Western Europe by 2020, says FMI.
"The popularity of pay-TV services, especially digital cable services, is increasing on account of deployment of 4K Ultra HD technology. Pay-TV service providers are focusing on clubbing several advanced technologies, such as ITV and DVBS-2 based MPEG-4 video format, with HD DTH. Integration of these technologies has given consumers a broad array of options to choose from, increasing the pay-TV subscriber base," FMI added.
The VOD market in North America is expected to surpass $100 billion by the end of 2015, thanks to a proliferation of connected devices and increased spending on video services. Like elsewhere in the world, pay-TV services account for the majority of VOD revenues in North America, which is expected to reach $103 billion by the end of 2016, say the researchers.
By the end of 2015, the VOD market in Western Europe is forecast to reach $55.6 billion, with demand growing by a rate of over 4% per year in the region. Key players noted by FMI include Agama Technologies, Exterity, Youview, BBC and Orange.
Globally, providers such as Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Hulu and software providers Cisco, SeaChange, Massive and Pace are the leading lights, the report adds.