The need to deliver OTT and multiscreen TV is leading to an upsurge in spending on broadcast and streaming video equipment, Infonetics Research says in a report tracking pay-TV subscribers and video equipment sold across the telecommunications space.
Among its findings, Infonetics said that the overall broadcast and streaming video market expanded 5.6 percent worldwide with content delivery networks (CDN) leading the way in a $1.6 billion market that is expected to grow to $2.5 billion by 2018. On the other side, the researchers said, spending on contribution encoders and VOD playout servers decreased.
Harmonic continues to be the frontrunner in this shifting market "although its revenue share decreased about one point while some competitors gained in 2013," an Infonetics press release said.
The market is being driven by CDN platforms that are evolving to support multiple OTT formats such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Microsoft Smooth Streaming.
"We are still very early in a long-term transition to software-based SDN (software defined networks)-controlled video processing, but we believe the shift will result in increased spending on both multiscreen encoders and content delivery network equipment as pay TV and over-the-top providers begin purchasing these platforms to more efficiently process and distribute video content," Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics said in the press release.
For more:
- see this press release
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