Market Trends

Amman, Jordan, November 29, 2012--A new report, entitled “Privatization Levels in Arab Cellular Markets” was released by the Arab Advisors Group analyzing the ownership structure and revenues of all cellular operators in fifteen Arab countries. The analysis aimed at examining the "actual" level of privatization and state ownership in each country measured by the proportionate share of each operator of total cellular market revenues. The analysis revealed that the Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti cellular markets are the most privatized markets.

Singapore, November 29, 2012--CASBAA and international media and technology law firm Olswang today launched Singapore's first online directory of digital content available from legitimate sources. The pilot directory is available to all at finddigitaltv.com and allows users to search for content by genre, device or just search for content that is free. The directory is being launched in tandem with “Digital, Legal and Anywhere – TV in Singapore Today”, a new report showcasing the varied and abundant audio-visual content available through non-traditional media platforms and delivery mechanisms in Singapore.

London, UK, November 28, 2012 – Over 220 million Smart TV sets will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from the 54 million that will be sold in 2012, according to Informa Telecoms & Media’s latest Smart TV device forecasts. 31% of households worldwide will own at least one Smart TV in five years time, according to Informa, with household penetration much higher in North America (63%) and Western Europe (64%).

Frisco, Tex., November 27, 2012  – New research from TDG finds that 13% of broadband subscribers – some 11 million households – do not subscribe to cable-like pay-TV services. TDG’s latest report entitled " PayTV Refugees: A Primary Profile of Cord Cutters and Cord Nevers, "offers a detailed profile of this small but growing segment of home entertainment consumers.

Lagos, Nigeria, November 26, 2012--Nigeria's telecoms and IT sector has proven to have massive growth potential in the coming years; but the country must first overcome a number of key industry challenges before the sector can fulfil its potential. One of the largest challenges is the lack of reliable power supply to the region; however, deficiencies in ICT infrastructure must continue to be addressed. Software piracy remains evidently rampant within the country as per a recent study released; the commercial value of unlicensed software installed in 2011 represented an 82% rate of piracy, nearly double the global rate of 42%.

London, UK, November 22, 2012 -According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, the global online-video market will be worth US$37 billion in 2017, driven by the popularity of services like Netflix and YouTube. This figure is made up of the three key video-revenue streams of advertising, subscriptions and transactions. Despite the market maturing, advertising will continue to be a larger revenue generator than subscriptions in 2017, as it is in 2012.

Stockholm, Sweden, November 21, 2012--The latest Ericsson Mobility Report, formerly known as the Ericsson Traffic and Market Report, reveals that approximately 40 percent of all phones sold in Q3 were smartphones. Data traffic doubled between Q3 2011 and Q3 2012, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 50 percent between 2012 and 2018, driven mainly by video.

Amman, Jordan, November 8, 2012--As of the end of the first quarter 2012,  mobile operators in nineteen Arab countries had 367.5 million cellular lines, up from 362 million at yearend 2011, a growth of 1.5%, according to new report from Arab Advisors Group which analyzes and ranks cellular operators in the Arab World. The three cellular operators in Egypt; Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat were the largest Arab cellular operators in terms of subscriptions by end of March 2012.

Scottsdale, Ariz.,  November 2, 2012-- By 2017 ABI Research expects over-the-top (OTT) revenue to quadruple to $32 billion, up from the expected $8.2 billion in 2012. Subscription services, like Netflix, have led the OTT markets the past couple of years, which has helped push the market towards healthy growth. By 2014, however, ABI Research expects OTT rentals to surpass subscription revenues.