IPTV has begun to mature, with 35 million homes globally receiving services as of the end of the second quarter.
Although this was 9 million more than a year and equivalent to 9% of pay-TV households worldwide, Television Market monitor: IPTV Q2 2010, published by Screen Digest, says that the days of exponential growth are now over as providers turn to consolidating their positions.
IPTV growth was at a two-year low in Western Europe in Q2, while Central and Eastern Europe had just 1.9 million IPTV households, with providers such as O2 TV (Czech Republic) and Stream TV (Russia) losing customers in the face of strong competition.
In North America, Q2 IPTV additions were higher than in Q1 but down on a year earlier, However, IPTV still fared better than cable.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Japanese Q2 IPTV growth was 30% down on a year earlier, though market leader Hikari saw stable additions. Growth was much stronger in South Korea, at the expense of cable.