The number of subscribers to managed IPTV services worldwide is predicted to rocket from 51mn at the end of 2011 to 165mn by the end of 2017 – even more impressive when considering that there were just 7.5mn at the end of 2007.
The report by UK firm Digital TV Research adds that China will supply 77mn (47%) of the 2017 total, up from only 14mn (28%) in 2011 and just 350,000 (5%) at end-2007.
Simon Murray, report author, said: “Some may be surprised to see the USA in second place by 2017 [with 14.4 million subs]. US telcos are aggressively marketing their IPTV products, with both [Verizon's] FiOS and [AT&T's] U-Verse appearing in the top 10 pay TV operators.”
Of the 114mn subscribers to be added between 2011 and 2017, 86mn are expected to come from the Asia Pacific region – or three-quarters of the new subscribers. India will supply 7.2mn more IPTV subscribers, up from a very low base at end-2011.
Global IPTV penetration is predicted to reach 10.8% of TV households by the end of 2017, up from 3.7% at the end of 2011, and just 0.6% at the end of 2007. The Asia Pacific region will lead with 14% IPTV penetration by the end of 2017, led by Singapore (43%) and Hong Kong (38%).
Meanwhile, penetration in Latin America and the Middle East & Africa is expected to remain low, although the United Arab Emirates will buck the trend with 41% penetration.
IPTV revenues are forecast to climb to US$ 21.3bn in 2017, up from US$ 9.7bn in 2011 and US$ 1.5bn in 2007. The US will remain the largest IPTV revenue earner by taking a third of the 2017 total (down from 41% in 2011), thanks no doubt to high Average Revenues Per User.
From the US$ 11.6bn additional revenues to be created between 2011 and 2017, the US is expected to provide US$ 3bn and the APAC region an extra US$ 5bn, led by China (US$ 1.8bn more) and Japan (US$ 1.6bn).
