Skip to main content

Video Side Loading vs Mobile Delivery Option

While mobile video delivery services are a hot topic with great potential, the market is very complicated, and will take quite a few more years to completely sort itself out, according to a new market study by In-Stat.

The Mobile Video Services category combines cell phones, broadcasting, Pay-TV, satellites, and the Internet.

"We've identified six competing vectors of growth that need to be understood by service operators before they make large infrastructure investments. Each geographic region is developing differently, and all technology approaches are in play," says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst.

"The opportunities appear to be huge, but the current level of fragmentation in the industry, and in the markets, may make it difficult for anybody to reach the economies of scale required to make Mobile Video Services a truly worldwide phenomenon. We're more likely to see geographic regions developing their own local approaches, and we will even find some country-specific versions."

I believe that the growth of side-loading content -- what In-Stat refers to as Sync & Go -- is the real wild-card in this market development scenario. In particular, as more mobile phones include an open method to move content onto the device -- which doesn't utilize a carrier's network -- we should witness some very interesting innovations that will stimulate usage and growth.

Video codecs optimized for mobile devices and the decline in semiconductor memory card pricing will polarize the market into two mobile video application clusters -- content that's primarily moved onto a mobile device from a PC, and content streamed directly to the mobile device.

The implications: the addressable market for direct-to-device multimedia content delivery may be a much smaller opportunity for mobile network service providers than originally anticipated.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- Handsets are only one way to receive Mobile Video Services. Personal Computers (PCs), Portable Media Players (PMPs), Navigation Systems, and other devices are all in the mix.

- Mobile Internet Data Services can deliver video, creating a "bypass" to Pay-TV versions.

- Disruptive approaches include: WiFi, WiMAX, WiBro, and "Synch & Go" services.

- In-Band Cellular Mobile Video services deliver good quality video, but eventually their bandwidth will become constricted in high-usage areas.

- All competing methods must still interoperate to provide a profitable mix of Broadcast TV, Premium TV, Pay-per-View TV, On-Demand Video, plus new interactivity features.

- Broadcast-Specific Overlay Networks include: DVB-H, MediaFLO, T-DMB, DVB-SH, DMB-S, ISDB-T One Seg, CMMB, and mobile versions of ATSC 8-VSB.

- The worldwide value of the equipment used by transmission sites for Broadcast-Specific Overlay Networks will have a worldwide value of about $216 million during 2011.

- China could dramatically boost this value if one of its proposed systems turns on earlier than expected.

Popular posts from this blog

How Cloud Fuels Digital Business Transformation

Across the globe, many CEOs invested in initiatives to expand their digital offerings. User experience enhancements that are enabled by business technology were a priority in many industries. Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 21.7 percent to a total of $597.3 billion in 2023 -- that's up from $491 billion in 2022, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Cloud computing is driving the next phase of digital transformation, as organizations pursue disruption through technologies like generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Web3, and enterprise Metaverse. Public Cloud Computing Market Development "Hyperscale cloud providers are driving the cloud agenda," said Sid Nag, vice president at Gartner . Organizations view cloud computing as a highly strategic platform for digital transformation initiatives, which requires providers to offer new capabilities as the competition for digital business escalates. "For example, generativ

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year