Indian digital broadcast equipment market to grow to $154 mn by 2018, says Frost & Sullivan

Indian digital broadcast equipment and solutions market size will grow from $99.6 million in 2013 to $154.5 million by 2018 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.2 percent, said Frost & Sullivan.

The main growth driver for the increase in digital broadcast equipment market in India is the need to distribute digital content to cable service operators alongside multimedia delivery.

Frost & Sullivan said Indian end users are looking for software-based solutions that are high on speed, Internet-protocol connected, and use open architecture so that upgrades require minimal hardware replacement.

The India broadcast ecosystem includes six product segments including cameras, encoders, broadcast video servers, switchers, non-linear editing software, and media asset management equipment.
HD movies
The focus on high-definition (HD) production to increase viewership and revenue generation opportunities is driving the demand for advanced digital broadcasting solutions, especially in the camera and video server segments.

Vidya S Nath, director, Digital Media, Global Innovation Center (GIC), Frost & Sullivan, said: “While these are immediate goals for upgrades, the market will drive spending on solutions for digital archiving, media asset management and collaborative workflows over the long term.”

The average annual capital expenditure (Capex) budget in India for a broadcaster is $118,000, and only about 25 percent of broadcasters spend about $160,000.

The research noted that high upfront costs and uncertainty surrounding the return on investment (ROI) of digital broadcasting equipment are deterring some CIOs and stakeholders in media companies from adopting digital broadcast solutions.

COOs are evaluating long-term costs of technical upgrades to be competitive as well as to adapt to the changing customer type for TV-everywhere. Several broadcasting organizations are working to eliminate redundant processes and pass them on to service providers, while holding complete control over their assets through a cloud-based workflow.

The success of several key vendors relies upon their partnerships with the system integrators and reseller channel in India.

Solution providers should roll out cost-effective usage-based solutions to gain acceptance among price-sensitive Indian consumers. They would also do well to offer reliable after-sales services and comprehensive training to end users in the Indian digital broadcast equipment market.

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