Credit: r2pasiapacific.org
Forecasts say that revenues from pay-TV and OTT video in the Asia-Pacific region will be worth $77.4 billion by 2021. To compete in the Asian market, OTT service providers are turning to telco companies to expand their customer reach and improve their services, by ironing out common consumer problems like network and payment.
As an increasingly appealing option for the modern digital consumer, OTT is expanding the world over. Some would even say that it's set for global domination.
One area of the world where the OTT landscape is getting particularly competitive is Asia.
Numbers are quite encouraging
As we previously mentioned, according to a report from Ovum, the Asia-Pacific region leads the way regarding OTT growth, with Japan and Australia enjoying a healthy 16.5% and 21.7% of the world's OTT revenue, respectively.
What's more, by 2021, it's expected that revenue from pay-TV and OTT video in the Asia-Pacific region will be worth $77.4 billion by 2021.
What's interesting is that as the competition in Asia heats up, Netflix and iQiyi are pushing traditional pay-TV operators out of the top five rankings the continent.
Let's take a look at the latest projections from Digital TV research. Asia Pacific seems as the region of biggest OTT revenue growth globally, by 2021.
We need to point our the popularity of subscriptions video-on-demand in Asia. From the 220 million new SVOD offerings launched between 2015 and 2021, 107 million will be in operating the Asia-Pacific region as well as 28 million in the Middle East and Africa.
Fairly cheap apps on the market have already proved very popular in the Far East. Mobile broadband is more established than fixed broadband in many of the world's developing countries, which seems to be contributing to over-the-top success.
The role of telcos and new partnerships
As the competition in Asia becomes fierce and more providers are fighting for the disposable income and loyalty of local consumers; new trends are emerging.
Speaking on the subject, Vivek Couto, co-founder and executive director of the research firm and consultancy Media Partners Asia explained, "The pace of change is rapid; This is a business that changes every two to three-quarters regarding content consumption, market share and competitive dynamics."
An astute observation. To compete in the Asian market OTT and SVOD providers are turning to telco companies to expand their customer reach and improve their services by ironing out common consumer problems including network and payment. What's more, local pay-TV operators are rolling out their own branded OTT services to compete with existing providers and evolve with the times.
The OTT market is thriving and has reached a level of maturity that warrants innovation, collaboration, and the ability to adapt to compete and indeed ensure survival.
In Asia, OTT is hotting up, and as time ticks on, we feel that these recent developments will be the tip of the iceberg.
Discover how you can succeed with OTT in a market like Asia-Pacific:
