According to Grand View Research, the global over-the-top (OTT) devices and services market is expected to reach $165.13 billion by 2025. The rising penetration of mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and advancements in consumer electronics devices such as smart TVs, are expected to drive the demand for OTT content and services over the forecast period.

There has been a rapid surge in the demand for OTT video content, particularly in developing economies, driven by TV digitization initiatives by various regional governments and broadcasters.

Businesses across various sectors are increasingly seeking contemporary technological models to provide personalized experiences to their customers, such as TV access on smartphones, connected devices, and tablets. Content providers and broadcast service providers are leveraging OTT technology to enhance customer engagement by gaining in-depth insights about their customer base.

Moreover, the rising demand for VOD, VoIP, subscription VOD (SVOD), instant messaging services, and Internet TV are expected to propel industry growth over the forecast period. OTT service providers are increasingly focusing their efforts toward the development of new features, such as Google Translate, which translates voice mail services into text, to provide convenience and enhance customer value.

Other findings indicate:

• Content providers such as DISH Network, Comcast, AT&T and DirecTV are moving into the SVOD domain to expand their presence and capture a larger market share.
• OTT service providers across the globe are focusing their efforts on the development of streaming technologies that include high dynamic range (HDR),1080p content, 4K streaming, and virtual reality (VR) video.
• Players such as WhatsApp, Tencent QQ, Apple FaceTime, Skype and Google Hangouts are upgrading their processes with new technologies and offerings to provide advanced communication and messaging services.
• The proliferation of hybrid models combining SVOD with ad-supported VOD (AVOD) coupled with the increasing penetration of fiber broadband and 4G mobile services are expected to propel the demand for OTT content across developing nations such as China.
• Growing proliferation of smart TVs is expected to provide increasing opportunities for advertisers to become content providers and offer services to consumers through various platforms such as Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube.