According to IHS Markit (NASDAQ:INFO), the video software market is expected to exceed $9 billion in revenue by 2021, up from $6 billion in 2015.
The atomization of media distribution and the switch from hardware-based technology solutions to cloud implementations are key drivers for the $3 billion in revenue growth over the next five years, IHS says.
"Taken together, these two forces have created a market where value is shifting towards the frontend," said Cecilia Zhu, analyst at IHS Technology. "A superior user-experience has become fundamental to securing increased consumer spend."
Globally, content security accounts for 32% of the digital video software market. "While demand for robust security solutions is unlikely to deteriorate, particularly in the presence of high-value UHD and HDR content, the segment is effectively saturated," Zhu said.
By contrast, online video platform (OVP) solutions are expected to continue to generate large, year-on-year returns through 2021. "The necessity of online distribution, backed by a platform pre-integrated across a rich ecosystem of partners, means demand for OVP solutions will rise over the next five years," Zhu said.
North America is the key region for the video software market and generates revenues of roughly $2.9 billion. The region's value relates primarily to confluence of three factors: the presence of large media companies, their outright scale, and their sheer number. "The region's economic dominance should not, however, overshadow the existence of cutting-edge video services in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and the technology demand that these services generate," Zhu said.
Cisco has a 15% share of the video software segment, the largest globally. "The company has proven adept at transitioning into the video space and at using its longstanding presence in core, metro, and access-network infrastructure to cross and upsell video-specific software," Zhu said.