China market: Network convergence heats up online video market, says Digitimes Research

The ongoing process of integrating telecommunications, broadcasting and the Internet in China has pushed broadcasting service providers to actively venture into the online video market, according to Digitimes Research.

As of the end of June 2010, the number of online video subscribers in China topped 250 million, accounting for 63.2% of a total of 420 million Internet services subscribers, said Digitimes Research citing data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

In addition, the size of China's online video market amounted to 844 million yuan (US$124.63 million) in 2009, an increase of 95.4% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by China-based Analysys International.

While broadcasting companies and telecom carriers in China are now competing for the control of physical networks for the delivery of online video services, the operations of online video services are likely to follow the business models similar to Hulu or Hulu+UGC, said Digitimes Research.