The golden age of on-demand video streaming is right around the corner. More and more consumers are cutting the cable cord which is making streaming services an undisputed winner in the media industry. What’s even more interesting is that every discernible study suggests that the effect of a significant rise in OTT will be felt no more greatly than in the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region of the world.
After a higher-than-expected spike in 2020, digital video consumers in Asia–Pacific are growing at a rate of 6.5% in 2021 to touch 1.93 billion. By 2022, this number will cross the 2 billion milestone. Of these 2 billion digital video consumers, nearly 53.1% will have subscribed to over-the-top video streaming services. Which means that in 2022, OTT viewers in the Asia–Pacific region will go beyond a whopping 1 billion subscriptions. China, which has the highest share of internet users among all APAC countries, will have 70.1% of its users having subscribed to OTT platforms. New consumers are coming online for the first time and existing ones increased their content consumption during the pandemic. Currently, the estimated reach of active OTT viewers in the APAC region is 392 million people which is larger than the population of the United States.
From a statistically competitive perspective, the OTT landscape in the APAC region offers interesting insight. Asia–Pacific accounts for 15–20% of the total global subscribers for the OTT video streaming platforms and typically 10–20% of their revenues. In the case of YouTube, Asia delivers nearly 20% of revenue, Netflix earns just over 10%. But a major exception is Disney. In 2021, Asia represented over 30% of Disney’s total global base and 45% of Disney Plus subscriptions.
Source:Spotx
Another industry that will grow alongside video streaming service providers is the video streaming software market. The Asia-Pacific streaming market stood at over $570 million in 2017 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 26% by 2023. This upward curve is marked by the evolution of smart devices, internet technology and telecom infrastructure. This prediction makes it necessary to involve video streaming solution providers such as Enveu as pivotal partners in any OTT strategy.
Looking at the overall OTT ecosphere, here are some key industry trends to look out for in 2022
- 4K technology will soon hit TV screens and be more accessible to the common man
- Streaming services will adopt intelligent features using voice control, gesture recognition and augmented reality features
- Sports leagues exclusively airing on traditional TV will begin broadcasting online-only versions of their sporting events
- Cable providers are expected to offer bundle packages with the internet, TV and phone services at lower prices
- Netflix’s share in the market is expected to decrease from 50% to 40% as more streaming services join the fold
- Virtual reality headsets may be in the offing
- APAC will be a mobile-first market as 66% of viewers watch OTT content on mobile devices
In conclusion, one can say that the OTT business is finally maturing. APAC is already home to a diverse ecosystem of global, regional and local video streaming players. The constant evolution of this ecosystem paves the way to offer a variety of subscription and ad-funded models with a vibrant mix of local and international content. The online video industry in the APAC region will roughly reach US $23billion dollars by 2024.
No time to lose! Enveu’s expertise will set the wheels in motion for you to dominate the OTT game in this region of the world. Don’t wait and get in touch with us right now.
