Frost & Sullivan: Australia video conferencing market to witness strong growth despite weak economic conditions

- The video conferencing market grew 28.7% in 2011. The immense opportunities in end points and channels are driving vendors and channels to secure a share of the market.

SYDNEY, June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The total Australian video conferencing market, which includes services and product (video conferencing endpoints) grew 28.7% from 2010.

Frost & Sullivan's latest report, Australian Video Conferencing Market Report, due for release in May 2012 combines end points, infrastructure and services. Audrey William, Head of Research, Australia and New Zealand, ICT said The Australia video conferencing market, including video conferencing end points, infrastructure and services, is expected to be worth over AUD700 million by 2018. Whilst there will be strong growth for endpoints, the services market is offering increasing opportunities for vendors and channels mainly in the areas of cloud-based video conferencing and managed services.

"The Australian video conferencing market is expected to register a healthy growth of close to 18% over the forecast period. Given the current economic climate, with generally cautious IT spending, this healthy growth rate suggests that businesses still see video conferencing as an attractive option for reducing travel costs. The rapid increase in smart phones and tablets usage is also expected to impact video conferencing adoption in the enterprise market, as an increasing number of business users utilise these mobile devices for video conferencing. The decline in price points for video conferencing solutions is another contributor to the growth in the Australia market," says William.

The Australian video conferencing endpoints market (products only) was up 36.3% from the previous year. The main factors that contributed to the high growth rate over the last two years were pent up demand from previous years of cautious spending and continued demand for video based collaboration.

Cloud-based video conferencing (or video as a service) is beginning to gather momentum in the market. Though at a very nascent stage of development, demand for such solutions is expected to grow over the next few years driven by the ability to reduce costs by minimising investment in video conferencing infrastructure and as organisations move from owned infrastructure to accessing services on an 'as-needed' basis said William.

Market participants

With a combined market share of over 95%, Cisco and Polycom dominated the Australian video conferencing endpoints market in 2011. Both vendors recorded strong growth in 2011 mainly due to a combination of robust demand from major verticals and growing awareness of video as a collaboration tool. However the market in Australia is expected to become more competitive with the entry of players such as Huawei which, because of its attractive price points, is expected to become more competitive in the Australian market over the next few years.

Other vendors in the Australian market vying for a share of video conferencing revenues include Teliris, Vidyo and Sony. A solid channel strategy will be critical for these players to secure major customer wins in the market, said William.

A growing awareness of the benefits of video conferencing is contributing to greater adoption from major verticals such as Financial Services, Government and Professional Services. These three verticals together contribute more than 60% of video conferencing revenues. The Mining sector is starting to show opportunities, elaborated William.

Frost & Sullivan's Australian Video Conferencing Market Report 2012 forms part of the Frost & Sullivan Australian Enterprise Communications Program. All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available. If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an e-mail with your contact details to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at djeremiah@frost.com.

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