Frost & Sullivan: Asia-Pac IPTV Subs to Hit 9.4 Million

The Asia-Pacific IPTV subscriber base is expected to grow by 51 percent in 2009 to close at 9.4 million users and account for 37.6 percent of the global subscribers, according to Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Adeel Najam. The region has seen rapid uptake of IPTV services, clocking year-on-year subscriber growth rates of over 60 percent annually for the last three years.

Najam expects Asia-Pac to be the second largest IPTV market in the world by the end of this year; a very close second after Western Europe – which is the oldest IPTV market – housing 38.3 percent of the world’s subscriptions.

The new analysis from Frost & Sullivan "Asia-Pacific IPTV Update" finds that the IPTV subscriber base in the region – covering 14 Asia-Pac countries including Japan – will grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 24.6 percent annually between 2009 and 2014, soaring to an estimated 23.5 million subscribers by end-2014.

In 2008, only eight Asia-Pac nations had commercial IPTV offerings – China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, India – and subscribers stood at 6.27 million; while Vietnam launched IPTV services in late 2009. After some delays, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand are all expected to roll-out IPTV services in the next 12 months, with the Philippines last on the bandwagon in 2011.