Findings from the latest edition of the Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Mobility Report, published today, show that by 2020 advanced mobile technology will be commonplace around the globe: smartphone subscriptions will more than double, reaching 6.1 billion, 70% of the world’s population will be using smartphones, and 90 percent will be covered by mobile broadband networks.

The number of pay satellite TV [DBS or DTH] homes will reach 265 million by 2020, up from 203 million at end-2014 and 143 million at end-2010, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. 

Covering 138 countries, the Global Satellite TV Forecasts report estimates that India will continue to lead the sector, with 66.9 million pay satellite TV subs in 2020, followed by the US with 34.1 million. Russia (18.5 million) and Brazil (15.3 million) will take third and fourth places respectively. These four countries will account for just over half the global total by 2020.

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 56% of all US households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, a smart TV set, a Blu-ray player, and/or a stand-alone device (like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV) -- up from 44% in 2013, and 24% in 2010. While 27% of all households have a TV set connected via one device, 29% of households are now connected via multiple devices -- up from 17% in 2013.

New Parks Associates research reveals 58% of Canadian broadband households have at least one connected CE device that allows online content to be accessed through a TV set, up from 48% in 2012. Nearly 40% have a gaming console connected to the Internet, 25% have a connected smart TV, and 14% have a connected streaming media device.                                                              

The global pay TV services market, including cable TV, satellite TV, telco TV and over-the-top (OTT) video, totaled $237 billion in 2014, up 7 percent from the previous year, according to the 2015 IHS Infonetics Pay TV Services and Subscribers report from IHS.

New technologies and enhancements like high dynamic range (HDR), wider color gamut, high frame rates, and immersive audio will advance the viewing experience far more than higher solution could do alone. While the market will take time to develop ABI Research expects nearly 70% of UHD TVs to support some, if not all of these enhancements by 2020—this could prove too conservative if a lower tier of UHD TVs does not persist as currently anticipated.

Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the US -- representing about 95% of the market -- added fewer than 10,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2015, compared to a gain of over 250,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2014. This marked the weakest first quarter for pay-TV net adds since LRG began tracking the industry over a decade ago.

Satellite TV [DTH or DBS] revenues will overtake total cable TV revenues in 2015, according to Digital TV Research. Covering 138 countries, the Digital TV World Revenue Forecasts report estimates that satellite TV accounted for 44% of the total in 2014, rising to 46% by 2020. However, cable TV revenues (both analog and digital) will drop from 46% of the total in 2014 to 40% in 2020. Meanwhile, IPTV – the fastest growing platform – will climb from a 10% share in 2014 to 13% by 2020.

According to Euroconsult's newly released research report, Profiles of Government Space Programs, world government expenditures for space programs decreased by 4% to US$ 66.5 billion in 2014.

The decrease in U.S. military space expenditures combined with the impact of adverse exchange rates on Russia had a considerable influence on global trends as the two countries together account for 65% of space expenditures worldwide.  Government spending excluding the U.S. and Russia actually increased by 8% in 2014.

Global shipments of over-the-top (OTT) set-top boxes (STBs) sold at retail -- including Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku boxes -- will overtake shipments of IPTV STBs used for pay TV services in 2015, according to a new report from IHS (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. This year, 31 million retail OTT STBs will be shipped, compared to 30 million IPTV STBs shipped by telcos.