Global and Local Market Trends

When people talk about the latest market trends with regards to multimedia, they often speak in terms of global or macro usage.  One of the things that we have seen is that while there are broad changes and usage patterns for video services that are driven by devices, networks and applications, most of the real news comes from individual markets.

From a global perspective, we can look at the increasing number of 3G subscribers and especially relative to the total number of mobile customers.  The percentage of 3G subscribers is almost reaching 20% which is the point where people start to say there is a tipping point.  New smartphones from iPhone to G1 to RIM’s Blackberry are showing people how easy it is to access quality video on a daily basis.  Prices for these services are generally falling and all-you-can-eat pricing plans are making multimedia more accessible to the masses.  New codecs such as H.264 are providing a near-HD experience which helps to promote increased usage.

Then we have the local markets driving local services.  It’s easy to point to India and China where more than a billion people will eventually have access to next-generation mobile broadband, and their networks are being built out now – but these services are yet to be launched – though there are high hopes.  We see very specific applications tailored to a country in markets such as the Middle East and in South East Asia.  There are also cultural norms that have be followed – including the allowance of adult services in Western and Northern Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria for example), which would obviously not be permissible in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Bahrain.

What do you think and see?  Which markets are truly leading this revolution?  How much do global trends apply to local markets?