According to Digital TV Research, three Chinese companies will top the Asia-Pacific (APAC) over-the-top (OTT) subscription VOD (SVOD) rankings by subscribers in 2023. Not expected to ever operate as standalone platforms in China, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are expected to take fourth and fifth places respectively.
Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: "The Asia Pacific OTT TV & Video Forecasts report expects 351 million subscription video on demand subscribers by 2023, up from 141 million in 2017. China will have 235 million SVOD subs in 2023 - or two-thirds of the 22 countries covered."
Netflix ($3.12 billion) is expected to top the SVOD revenues chart in 2023. The top three platforms are expected to account for 54% of the region's SVOD revenues by 2023. APAC SVOD revenues are expected to triple from just under $5 billion in 2017 to $15 billion in 2023. China's share is expected to remain at about half of the total.
"Asia Pacific OTT revenues from TV episodes and movies will reach $42 billion in 2023, nearly triple the $15 billion recorded in 2017," Murray said. "The total will increase by $5 billion in 2018 alone."
China and Japan are expected to account for three-quarters of the region's OTT revenues by 2023. China is expected to command 62% ($25.97 billion) by 2023, increasing its share from 59% ($8.79 billion) of the 2017 total.
Advertising on OTT sites (AVOD) are expected to be the main source of OTT revenues. However, SVOD is growing faster - tripling between 2017 and 2023. SVOD is expected to take 37% of OTT revenues by 2023, with AVOD supplying 54%. Those proportions were 33% and 55% respectively in 2017.