The global VOD market is forecast to reach $263 billion by next year, with the Asia Pacific set to overtake Western Europe as the second-largest VOD territory by 2020, according to a Future Market Insights (FMI) report.
The rising popularity of on-demand services among consumers and proliferation of internet in emerging nations is expected to fuel the global VOD market, which next year is anticipated to be up from $207 billion in 2014.
FMI’s Video on Demand (VoD) Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014-2020 report nonetheless states that the demand for pay-TV services will continue to remain strong during the forecast period 2014 to 2020.
North America and Western Europe are currently the two largest VOD markets. Asia Pacific, which has a 13 percent share in the global VOD market, is expected to represent more than 22 percent of the market by 2020.
The Western Europe VOD market is expected to reach a valuation of $55.6 billion by the end of this year. Demand for VOD services in Western Europe is growing at an annual rate of more than 4 percent, with key players in the region including Agama Technologies, Exterity, Youview, BBC and Orange.
The APAC Video on Demand market (excluding Japan) is expanding at a robust pace and by 2020 will reach $80.5 billion, per FMI’s report. Proliferation of internet and rising smartphone ownership are also expected to drive the adoption of VOD services.
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. Key players in the market include CombiTel, Biditech Solutions, CNTV and Singtel.
In North America, the VOD market is expected to surpass the $100 billion mark by the end of this year, and pay-TV services account for the bulk of the revenues in the region as well. Valued at $91.6 billion in 2014, the pay-TV services market in North America is expected to reach $103 billion by the end of 2016. Leading VOD service providers include Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Hulu.
