Revenue earned by consumer broadband value-added services (BVAS) more than doubled during 2004 -- At the beginning of the year it was running at an annual rate of about $3.3 billion worldwide. By the end of the year the figure was $6.9 billion. This is the first time it has been possible to estimate the growth of this new market, using the data provided by the second edition of Point Topic's report on The Consumer BVAS Market. The BVAS market is vitally important for service providers who need to find ways of increasing the revenue they receive from broadband services. The 2004 results are good news for them from this point of view. Most value-added services delivered over broadband increased in both users and total revenues. Services such as video over broadband, music and voice over IP (VoIP) all grew strongly. The increase in the run-rate of revenues was much steeper than the growth in the number of consumer broadband lines, which grew about 45 percent to 131 million, or in consumer broadband access revenues, which grew by about 22 percent to $39 billion. Price cuts by both DSL and cable operators resulted in revenues growing more slowly than the number of lines.
The personal computing device market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience despite recent fluctuations. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), global PC shipments are projected to reach 273 million units in 2025—a modest but significant 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. This growth reflects the market's adaptation to post-pandemic realities and evolving technology needs across the globe. Personal Computing Market Development While COVID-19 initially triggered unprecedented demand for computing devices during the shift to remote work and online education, we now see a more measured growth pattern. IDC has slightly adjusted its projections downward, indicating a market growing steadily rather than explosively. "In light of so many challenges around the world, Japan is a much-needed source of double-digit growth this year. Enterprises there as well as SMBs have been quickly replacing PCs in advance of the Window...