All that over-the-top (OTT) video and gaming is making for a whirling maelstrom of opportunity: The global digital content market is set to reach a staggering $154 billion annually by 2019, an increase of nearly 60 percent on 2014.
That’s according to a new report from Juniper Research (News - Alert), which found that mobile and online games would account for the largest share of content sales (38 percent of cumulative revenues), with game formats continuing to transition from physical to digital.
The firm said that the success of platforms such as Valve's Steam (which now has over 125 million active accounts worldwide) are driving the evolution, even as revenue from consoles diminishes, as players migrate their gameplay to tablets and higher-end smartphones.
Juniper also expects strong growth from so-called “lifestyle” services, led by dating apps like Match.com, eHarmony and Zoosk (News - Alert).
When it comes to content monetization, the pay-per-download model accounts for around 10 percent of mobile content revenues today—the bulk of revenue comes post-download with in-app purchases, advertising and the like. An even larger opportunity however lies in enabling that access, Juniper argued.
“Increased consumer desire for 24/7 access on any device leads to greater opportunities for players that can offer subscription-based, unlimited content streaming,” said research author Windsor Holden.
Unsurprisingly, the firm said that entrenched OTT players like Apple, Google (News - Alert) and Amazon are the most likely to capitalize on the trends, since all of them are now offering cloud-based solutions both for personal storage and premium content access. These offerings enhance the value of hardware and apps offerings.
“If consumers are tied into multiple products from an OTT, those consumers becomes increasingly reluctant to churn away from one element of the brand, as he/she loses access to content across their devices,” Juniper noted.