AsiaPac SVOD Subs to Top 150 Million in 2021

LONDON: By 2021, there will be 157.78 million SVOD subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region, up from about 76 million expected by the end of this year, Digital TV Research reports.

By the end of 2017, the Asia Pacific SVOD Forecasts report predicts that the base will be nearing the 100 million mark.

China is the most dominant SVOD market in the region, commanding 47 percent of the base by 2021 with 74.3 million subs. Behind China in terms of total numbers is Japan, rising to 25.6 million by 2021, and India, with 20.3 million. Other key territories include South Korea (9.7 million), Australia (5.1 million) and Indonesia (4.6 million).

China will supply 34 million of the 82 million subscriber additions between 2016 and 2021, ahead of India’s 15 million and Japan’s 9 million.

SVOD penetration across the region will be up to 17.5 percent by end 2021, up from just 9.1 percent this year. Market penetration rates will range from the low end of 8 percent in Pakistan to 53.5 percent in Australia.

“Although Netflix, Amazon, Iflix, HOOQ and Viu will enjoy rapid growth, they will collectively only account for 16 percent of the region’s SVOD subscribers by 2021,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “Netflix is forecast to have 7.59 million subscribers in the region by 2021, up from 3.17 million at end-2016. Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand will together account for nearly three-quarters of the total. Netflix is considered expensive in most other countries. We do not believe that Netflix will launch as a stand-alone platform in China.”