Market intelligence report: online entertainment and leisure

The research aimed to provide a snapshot view of the online entertainment and leisure (OEL) sector, looking specifically at the market for online delivery of digital entertainment and leisure services to end consumers, including the delivery of music, games, movie and gambling services over fixed and wireless networks, and the personalisation of mobile phones through ringtones and infotainment content. In doing so, it sought to provide Scottish ITI members with visibility of the market analysis activities undertaken in this sector by ITI Techmedia, access to market information relevant to this sector, and an indication of the functional needs that ITI will further explore to identify the technology platforms that will form the basis of ITI Techmedia research and development programmes.

The data for this report was collected via a marketing foresighting process which has been created and adopted by ITI Techmedia. Primary data was also collected during Market Intelligence Workshops, attended by experienced individuals from industry and academia. Face-to-face interviews were also conducted with key organisations in the sector. Desk research was used to obtain secondary data by international market analysts.

The research reports that the overall market for filmed entertainment, recorded music and games across all formats is predicted to grow by 9 per cent per annum between 2003 and 2008. It notes that at the time of study, the online entertainment and leisure (OEL) represents only 5 per cent of the overall market, however, this is forecast to grow to 13 per cent by 2008. Key trends in the OEL sector include: increased personalisation of content; increased importance of home networking; the integration of mobile and home devices; and content being delivered increasingly by networks. A range of market opportunities are identified for the sector, including customer relationship management systems enabling the personalisation of services, digital rights management, navigation tools and home networks.

There were no recommendations as this was not within the remit of the report.