subject: The Future Of Digital Home Entertainment: Key Trends And Drivers Shaping Devices, Content And Servic [print this page] Despite the economic slowdown of recent years, digital home entertainment looks set to evolve and grow significantly over the next five years. The convergence of technologies and platforms, lifestyle trends, a growing need for mobility, and technological advances are all combining to fundamentally change the ways in which consumers interact with digital content. In turn, these trends and meta-themes are forcing broadcasters, media agencies and conglomerates, service providers, device and consumer electronics manufacturers, and communications operators to rethink the value chain and restructure their business models. In the future digital home, content will be king, and consumers will expect to be able to access synchronized content and digital content libraries instantaneously on a range of connected devices, in a variety of locations. The consumption of digital entertainment content is being driven by the rapid transition to online and mobile platforms, on which consumers of tomorrow will expect the ability to watch broadcast TV, access video content on-demand, personalize Internet radio stations to suit their own preferences, play games, and store media collections, whether inside or outside the home - this concept of the porous home will be a defining feature of the future of digital home entertainment. This report analyzes the trends, technologies and business models of the enablers and providers of digital content. Furthermore, it defines six Meta-themes that can be used as a template for defining and considering the future shape and growth of the digital home entertainment market. These six meta-themes are then applied to each of three main digital home entertainment markets: TV and video; Music and audio content; and Gaming.
Table of Contents :
The Future of Digital Home Entertainment
Executive summary
Drivers and inhibitors of digital home entertainment
Trends and meta-themes in digital home entertainment
The future of digital home entertainment: TV and video
The future of digital home entertainment: Music
The future of digital home entertainment: Gaming
Chapter 1 Introduction
What is this report about?
Who is this report for?
Definitions
Chapter 2 Drivers and inhibitors of digital home entertainment
Summary
Introduction
Market context
Content provision and delivery models
Market drivers
Connectivity
Fixed broadband penetration
Mobile broadband penetration
Mobility, the cloud and the porous home
Consumer behavior and lifestyle
Work-life balance
Media consumption
Entertaining at home
Market inhibitors
Global economic downturn
Retail sales hit in 2009-2010
Recovery begins in 2011
Converged devices restrict sales growth
Slow technology pipelines
Media and content provider challenges
The consumer sets the agenda
Certain consumers are not comfortable with new technologies
Providers need to differentiate themselves from the pack
Conclusions
Chapter 3 Trends and key themes in digital home entertainment
Summary
Introduction
Six technology meta-themes
Analysis of the six technology meta-themes
Convergence
Service convergence
Media platform convergence
Device convergence
Convergence encourages the 'good enough' concept
Maturity
Convergence to dominate the evolution of digital home entertainment
Specialization
Dangers in attempting to appeal to all
Understanding consumer preferences
Converged services: specialization and customization often overlap
Personalization
Consumer lifestyle trends point towards individualism
The popularity of mobile apps
Media and broadcasting sectors driving personalized content
Maturity
Portability and the porous home
Digital content moves from fixed and portable storage devices into the cloud
Mobile technology is becoming more important to consumers
Fixed devices remain central to home life
Maturity
Simplification
Amount of new devices increases the complexity of the purchasing process
Consumer demands for simplicity vary between generation and demographic
Fixed and mobile Internet makes life easier
The need for simplification does not only apply to devices
Differentiation
Setting products and services apart from the crowd
Apple and Nintendo: examples of successful differentiation
Triple-play provides opportunities
Chapter 4 The future of digital home entertainment: TV and video
Summary
The future of TV and video
The broadcast industry
Web TV
IPTV
On-demand video
3DTV
Technology evolution
HDTV
Internet connectivity
3D TV
Mobile TV
Market sizing and forecast
TV and video hardware
Global TV sales snapshot
Digital TV
IPTV
HDTV
HDTV sets
HD services
Blu-ray
Set-top boxes and DVRs
Video-on-demand
Internet-based TV and video content
Online providers
Hulu
YouTube
BBC iPlayer
Comcast and TV Everywhere
MLB.tv
3D Television
Mobile TV
Applying the six meta-themes to the future of TV
Convergence
Differentiation
Personalization
Simplification
Specialization
Portability and the porous home
Chapter 5 The future of digital home entertainment: Music
Summary
The future of digital music
Evolution of business models
Technology evolution
Audio formats and quality
Digital audio content retailers
Market sizing and forecast
Digital audio content
Portable audio players
Networked audio products
Applying the six meta-themes to the future of digital music
Convergence
Portability and the porous home
Personalization
Simplification
Differentiation
Specialization
Chapter 6 The future of digital home entertainment: Gaming
Summary
The future of gaming
Emerging technologies and trends
On-demand gaming - OnLive
User-generated content
Social gaming
Serious gaming
Advergaming
Micropayment models
The changing demographic profile of gamers
Market sizing and forecast
Games console market
Hardware
Online consoles
Software
Online gaming market
Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) market
Mobile gaming market
PC gaming market
Applying the six meta-themes to the future of gaming
