The IPTV subscriber growth rate has recovered in Q4 2015 compared to Q3 2015 and was the highest in the last eight quarters to 31 December 2015, according to research by Point Topic.
The total number of worldwide IPTV subscribers has now passed the 130 million mark. The net additions of six million are the highest in 24 months to end-2015. They were boosted to a large extent by the usual suspects such as China, which saw 3.7 million new IPTV subscribers sign up in Q4 2015.
The high quarterly growth of the global IPTV customer base has again increased the proportion of fixed broadband subscribers who also take an IPTV service, generally from their broadband operator. IPTV subscribers continue to grow faster than fixed broadband in percentage terms. Coming from a lower base as well as being a later entrant this is not unexpected.
At the same time, focus on the newly acquired satellite TV services meant that the US giant AT&T saw its IPTV subscribers decline further, by 4.1% quarter on quarter. Nevertheless, countries such as Spain, Brazil and Turkey recorded quarterly growth in double digits.
As expected East Asia continues at the top of the regional ratings, consistently with more net adds and higher growth rates than anywhere else. In addition, quarterly growth rates have gone up in all regions except North America, where the change in technology focus of such large providers as AT&T had a significant impact.
The figures are confirmed by Transparency Market Research, who claims that the global IPTV market is set to gain immensely from widespread broadband services in Asia-Pacific. A new report published by the market intelligence firm states that the global IPTV market is expected to exhibit a high double-digit CAGR of 18.10% from 2014 through 2020. The market, which approximated $24.9 bn in 2013, will rise in valuation to touch $79.3 bn by 2020.
The report states that currently, there is no single firm that comfortably dominates the global IPTV market owing to the high degree of fragmentation in this space. The revenue generated by the IPTV market is shared by the many players that compete for a higher portion of the market’s revenue across the supply chain. These include network providers, software solution providers, IPTV operators, and middleware providers. With competition only intensifying, it is expected that this space will remain thus for the next few years.
The global IPTV market is in the midst of constant evolution, making it difficult to sustain in the market without constantly adapting to new trends and launching innovative products. Among the companies that have gained a stronghold in the global IPTV market are China Telecom Corporation Limited, Orange, AT&T, NTT Communication, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon Communications, and Century Link.
