The Australian consumer electronics market is set to boom ahead of other markets with interactive games, IPTV and services set to be the fastest growing segments, according to a new report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, who also claim that the economic slowdown will have no impact on this market.
Over the next five years digital technologies will progressively increase their impact across all segments of entertainment and media (E&M) as digital transformation continues to expand and escalate.
The uncertain economic background has done nothing to slow the pace of change, which has been far quicker than predicted 12 months ago. It is clear that the consumer is firmly in the driving seat of these changes, say PWC.
Following a year of decline in 2009, the global consumer electronics market spanning entertainment and media will grow by 5.0 per cent compounded annually for the entire forecast period to 2014 reaching US$1.7 trillion, up from US$1.3 trillion in 2009.
One of the fastest growing regions is Asia Pacific market which will grow at 6.4 per cent. Australia is the largest country in this region.
The largest, but slowest growing market is North America growing at 3.9 per cent CAR taking it from US$460 billion in 2009 to US$558 billion in 2014.
Consumers are embracing new media experiences with staggering speed. The advancing digital transformation is driving audience fragmentation to a level not previously seen. However, the current wave of change is of a different magnitude from previous ones both in its speed and its simultaneous impact across all segments, said Marcel Fenez, of the Entertainment & Media Division at PWC.
“Some companies perceive the continuing fragmentation of the market as a threat but it should be seized upon as an opportunity. It offers companies the chance for creativity around the approaches to their buyers, be it via traditional channels to market or, more importantly, by embracing social media. Either way, it’s imperative that they capture the hearts, minds and money of these consumers,” he said.
Although there is consistency in the inevitable migration to digital, the ways in which this presents itself and the pace of change continues to vary by market. Regional and country variations in current market size and future growth reflect local factors around infrastructure, access availability and consumer behaviour. For example the mobile internet explosion has already happened in Japan, accounting for some 53 per cent of global spending on mobile Internet access in 2009 while other markets are still at the bottom of their growth curve.
PWC said that Internet access is a key driver of spending in most segments. Increased broadband penetration will boost wired access while growing smartphone penetration and wireless network upgrades will drive mobile access. Spending on wired and mobile Internet access will rise from US$228 billion in 2009 to US$351 billion in 2014.