AV Over IP on the Rise, but Struggling to Reach Critical Mass

AV Over IP Market Analysis and Commentary

Low-latency AV Over IP (AVoIP) solutions saw an increase in demand in 2018, with shipments of encoders and decoders up 69% year-on-year, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting. The research firm expects continued strong rates of growth, with shipments tipped to grow another 42% in 2019. Yet looking beyond the growth, AVoIP is yet to achieve widescale adoption or displace existing extension technologies in low-latency professional AV segments.

“We’re seeing a range of ongoing issues that are slowing adoption of AVoIP,” says Adam Cox, Senior Analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “Combine that with continued resilience from non-IP extension technologies and, despite the growth, AVoIP is only slowly gaining traction. Currently, price points are a little high for the market, there’s a lack of networking expertise in the target industries and there’s an underlying reluctance from channel partners to adopt IP.

“Vendors are reporting growth in volumes, but at a lower rate than expected, and the tech is struggling to reach critical mass,” adds Cox.

1G installations continue to dominate the market, with 10G solutions struggling to find much of a foothold, as market leaders Harman and Crestron have yet to invest in 10G. As a result, the majority of key installations continue to be based on 1G products. Futuresource forecasts that 1G will account for 86% of all shipments in 2019. However, as Extron has now entered the market, offering both 1G and 10G solutions, competition in this segment is expected to grow significantly.

“AVoIP adoption is being driven by large corporates and higher education institutions, as well as leisure and hospitality verticals,” comments Cox. “Corporate is key for low-latency AVoIP growth, as businesses are adopting innovative video distribution techniques across meeting rooms and premises. In higher education, there’s a demand to distribute video across campuses, which is well-serviced by AVoIP solutions, as the number and type of inputs required within and between rooms can vary significantly. AVoIP adoption is set to increase across a range of niche markets too, with medical and control room markets deploying high-end 10G-enabled solutions.”

Looking ahead, shipments of AVoIP encoders and decoders are forecast to rise to more than one million units shipped in 2023 according to Futuresource. This will represent a 30% CAGR throughout the forecast period.

For further information on the new 76-page Futuresource report, Mapping The Low-Latency AV Over IP Market, please contact Ben Thrussell via ben.thrussell@futuresource-hq.com

About the author

Adam Cox

Adam Cox is Senior Analyst at Futuresource Consulting and is responsible for researching and reporting on technology trends across the imaging, pro video and collaboration market categories.

Adam is also heavily involved in work looking at end users, service providers across the corporate markets and in addition to this, works on tracking and examining the collaboration, wireless presentation and conferencing equipment sales channels.

Adam joined Futuresource in 2006 working on broad range of market tracking, analytical and strategic pro broadcast AV Projects. He soon went onto lead the broadcast equipment team covering the full broadcast production chain from acquisition to content delivery. Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Film and Television Studies.