US : Sales of mobile video phones hit close to $58 billion worldwide in 2006 and are forecast to more than double to nearly $125 billion by 2010, says market research firm Infonetics Research in its latest report, Mobile Video Phones, Services, and Subscribers.

Explosive growth in mobile video subscribers is forecast as well , jumping from a few million in 2006 to 58.6 million in 2010, the report says. Drivers for this strong growth include increasingly powerful and efficient phones and the analog broadcast signal switch-offs.

“Despite some concerns around the business plan and subscriber take rates, major service providers continue to move forward with their mobile video network rollouts. They’re taking advantage of spectrum availability, thanks to the switch-off of analog TV broadcasting networks, and the pressure to get services rolled out before next year's Summer Olympics in Beijing and the European Soccer Championship,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV at Infonetics.

“In addition, governments are very quickly lining up behind various mobile video technologies to help facilitate deployments, with the EU’s endorsement of DVB-H and the Chinese government’s sponsorship of CMMB being the 2 most visible efforts,” Heynen added.

Other highlights from the report

• Worldwide service provider revenue from mobile video services is expected to triple from 2006 to 2007, and is forecast to grow at a phenomenal 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 135% through 2010
• EMEA was the leading region for mobile video service revenue in 2006, accounting for 42% of the worldwide total; Asia Pacific accounts for 35%, North America for 16%, and CALA for 7%
• Asia Pacific will be the regional stronghold of mobile video subscribers through at least 2010, with 53% of the world total in 2006, followed by EMEA at 27%, North America at 13%, and CALA at 6%
• Worldwide DVB-H subscribers are projected to grow to 11.7 million by 2010
• Worldwide FLO subscribers are projected to grow to 6M by 2010

Infonetics' mobile video market report provides market size and forecasts for mobile video phones, service revenue, and subscribers in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, CALA, and worldwide.

Download report highlights at www.info.infonetics.com. For sales, contact Larry Howard, vice president, at larry@infonetics.com or +1 (408) 583-3335.

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm specializing in data networking and telecom. Services include market share and forecasting, end-user survey research, service provider survey research and capex analysis.