• Digital TV Research says smartphone SVOD subs will hit 170 million 
  • Average smartphone SVOD subscriber will pay for 1.83 services 
  • Smartphone subscribers will account for 16% of total global SVOD subscribers 

watching ott vod on phone user experience credit Kaspars Grinvalds shutterstock

Smartphones: Fuelling SVOD subscriptions in emerging markets

Source: Kaspars Grinvalds Shutterstock

Smartphone gross SVOD subscriptions for 138 countries will double between 2019 and 2025 to 170 million, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.

The total number of SVOD subscribers via mobile operators will climb by 25 million in 2020 alone. 

However, net smartphone SVOD subscriber count – which accounts for churn - will rise by 34 million between 2019 and 2025 to reach 93 million, a lower growth than gross subscriptions.  

The average smartphone SVOD subscriber will pay for 1.83 gross SVOD subscriptions by 2025 – up from 1.45 in 2019. These figures are lower than for fixed broadband homes, which tend to subscribe to more services. 

Smartphone SVOD take-up will be highest in emerging markets, said Digital TV Research, especially those with low fixed broadband penetration, where disposable incomes are limited. 

Smartphone SVOD subscribers via mobile operators will reach 16.0% of the 582 million global SVOD subscribers by 2025, up from 14.6% of the 403 million in 2019.  

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Our forecasts only cover subscriptions taken via a mobile operator, so they exclude direct SVOD subscriptions via a mobile app. These forecasts could easily more than double if direct mobile SVOD subscriptions were included.” 

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