Trends and outlook 2011
What’s in store for the media, entertainment, and telecommunications industries in 2011? Trends and outlook. Communications markets are in a fundamental transition. Technological developments are occurring at breath-taking speeds; at the same time, communication and media behavior are changing dramatically, primarily because of social and mobile media. Which changes and challenges will 2011 bring?
In "Trends and outlook 2011", experts at Goldmedia share their outlook on significant developments for the new year in the areas of media, telecommunications, entertainment, and the internet. Their forecasts are presented in the form of short analyses.
Managing director Dr. Klaus Goldhammer on the market conditions for 2011:
“Intense pressure to innovate is the TIME industry’s unwavering companion. For content providers, aggregators, telecom service providers, internet service providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers alike, uncertainty about their future is a primary concern.
Traditional business segments are disappearing, while new competitors encroach on what was viewed as the established customer base. Only businesses that have a direct pipeline to customers, offer attractive content or services, and – most of all – stay ahead of competitors will maintain a marginal lead. Part of the problem is that old and young target groups continue to drift further apart in their user behavior. Thanks to the rising number of older users and their generally habitual media use, younger users’ changing media behavior carries little weight statistically, although the younger generation is moving in a completely different direction. As far as the future of mainstream media, mobile communication, games, and social media are only the tip of the iceberg.
Young people continue to reallocate their “budgets” of time and attention and are turning into the frequently-invoked “prosumers.” Social media isn’t hype; it’s deeply changing communication channels. And the triumph of mobile communications will only strengthen this trend further. We’re just at the beginning.”
Topics and theses in Goldmedia "Trends and outlook 2011":
Media and market
- The paradigm change in the ad market continues – traditional ad formats will lose more ground to digital formats
- TV program trends in 2011: more German fiction, blurring lines between genres, and greater importance for self-produced content
- Pay TV in 2011: a market torn between threating losses and hope. Can HD television programs rescue pay TV yet?
- For media resonance analysis in 2011, a “cluster” of the most significant press activity will be more useful than comprehensive clippings
Entertainment and hardware
- The battle for dominance in the German living room grows fiercer, as the traditional cable and pay TV providers are met with more competition from the big players in entertainment
- Gaming in 2011 will become even more mobile, social, and dynamic, and will take on the third dimension
- Tablet PCs and other E-Readers are the big opportunity for the publishing industry. “Sense & simplicity” are becoming the big factor for success.
- Home entertainment is turning three dimensional. Following movie theaters and gaming, 3D in 2011 is gaining footing in mobile displays; in contrast, use of 3D content on TV remains still unusual
Internet and social media
- All business goes glocal – as the internet goes mobile, it also goes local
- Cloud computing brings enormous revenue potential to online services and also revolutionizes music usage
- Social media is changing communication channels and marketing concepts fundamentally. Social networks are becoming networks within a network, the “always on” mode is transforming into “always in touch”, and communication increasingly occurs in real time
Telecommunications
- Mobile internet: both bandwidths and prices are rising; white spots persist
- Mobile comunications network operators are giving up on internet value-added services for private customers and becoming pure infrastructure providers. The way out of the innovation dilemma is increasingly elusive
- Mobile television may be dead, but watching videos on the go is not. Use of live television on mobile phones will remain limited – access of video content, in contrast, will grow
- Network operators must manage increasingly high demand for bandwidth. 2011 will bring further consolidation and intensify the search for viable premium services