 "APAC Video Conferencing Endpoints Market To Grow 15.3 Percent In 2009")
The Asia-Pacific video conferencing endpoints market is expected to grow by 15.3 percent this year – up from 15 percent in 2008 – as budgets tighten and the influenza pandemic raises travel woes. Revenues are estimated to reach $379.4 million by the end.
Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Pranabesh Nath expects this rising growth to continue over the next four years, before easing gradually.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Asia-Pacific Video Conferencing Endpoints Market, finds that the market – covering 13 Asia-Pac countries – earned revenues of $329.1 million in 2008 and estimates this to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 17.7 percent (2009-2015). Frost & Sullivan predicts the market will be worth just over $1.0 billion by end-2015.
“This upbeat outlook for video conferencing solutions is buoyed by the need for real-time collaboration, and the increasing availability of next-generation video conferencing devices and compression technologies,” says Nath.
“Despite reduced spending in a recessionary climate, most companies realise that investing in video conferencing solutions provides long-term savings compared to direct travel, by enabling cost-effective long-distance communications,” he adds. “It also increases employee productivity and collaboration due to the ability to conduct more meetings than is possible with physical travel.”
Adoption in the more mature economies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea have been dominated by the corporate sector, particularly the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry. High-definition video conferencing solutions were the clear favourite for new deployments in these markets.
Whilst in the developing countries like India and China, the government sector was the biggest spender on video conferencing, leaning towards the more affordable and lower bandwidth-compatible standard definition systems; although Nath says that high-definition solutions are gaining popularity in these markets as well.
Nath believes that video conferencing technologies offer clear benefits, “It is a compelling tool for better cost management, effective communications and even a measure to reduce carbon footprint,” he says. “Such advantages, coupled with more flexible pay-per-use models and managed services, are expected to eventually drive wider adoption and growth for video conferencing.”