Consumer entertainment trends at CeBIT

Flat panel TV sets continue forward march
Network connectivity becoming standard feature of CE products
Internet television (IPTV) poised for breakthrough  

Digital entertainment is in greater demand than ever before. The German association for consumer and communications electronics (gfu) is predicting sales of more than 4.4 million flat panel television sets in Germany alone. Despite falling prices, the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) anticipates record market volume of just under five billion euros in 2008. T

here is also a growing interest in 'professional' flat panel television sets which can be used, for example, as customer or visitor information systems at companies, airports, train stations, hotels or medical facilities.

Digital recorders and players which support the high-grade DVD formats Blu-ray and HD DVD will also be experiencing further growth in 2008. Annual growth for this product group is anticipated at 12.5 percent through the year 2011. And the picture is similarly positive for digital set-top boxes used for high-resolution HD television.

Reason enough to breathlessly await CeBIT from 4 to 9 March, because, with only three months to go before soccer's Eufa European Championship (EURO 2008), all the latest digital consumer trends are guaranteed to be on display.

Another new trend being highlighted at the new 'Home & Mobile Solutions' display sector at CeBIT involves digital connectivity. According to BITKOM, United States consumers are already spending 8 billion dollars annually for networked consumer entertainment (CE) devices. This trend will reach Germany in 2008 as well, as the wireless media highway helps realize the dream of digital interfacing between all different kinds of appliances.

A PMP (Portable Media Player), for example, will load your favorite songs or videos from the PC hard disk; your home server can transmit your vacation photos to the flat panel TV; and thanks to the broadband connection, your Web radio can receive thousands of stations from across the globe.

Apart from Wireless LAN, another transmission standard will establish itself - HomePlug AV, conveniently allowing you to use the power lines to distribute music, images and videos throughout your home. The maximum transmission speed is equivalent to that of Wireless LAN (200 megabits pro second).

By the end of 2007 around 18 million German households had DSL access. But there is still a long way to go before everyone has coverage. The German municipal association (DStGB) and the German federation of county governments (DLT) are critical of the fact that, at present, around five million residents still do not have access to broadband Internet.

The consequence for the 2,200 affected communities is a dramatic acceleration of rural flight and an exodus of businesses. The Managing Director of the Association of Telecommunications and Value-Added Service Providers (VATM), Jürgen Grützner, plans to unite the forces of all parties involved, drawing up a joint plan of action to guarantee that 'blank spots' on the German broadband map are quickly eliminated.

According to a current ranking of EU countries regarding the amount of consumer high-speed Internet access, Germany only comes in average in Europe. Only 50 percent of German households have DSL access, whereas the corresponding figure for Holland and Denmark is 74 and 70 percent, respectively (source : Eurostat).

Open platforms are a prerequisite for many successful business models in the World Wide Web, and these marketing strategies are sure to spark some lively debate at the upcoming CeBIT. Take, for example, the Open IPTV Forum. This body, which includes companies from the telecom, hardware and infrastructure sectors, is dedicated to developing unified worldwide standards for Internet television (IPTV).

Recently, Deutsche Telekom also became a member of the forum. And a high-revenue future market is truly at stake: According to a recent survey by the market research institute Informa Telecom & Media, by 2012 some 38.5 million German households will be able to receive TV programs via their broadband connection. In 2006 the figure was only 5.3 million.

Along with China, the United States, France and Japan, Germany will thus become one of the world's five key IPTV markets, thus turning IPTV into a serious competitor for traditional TV broadcasting - and a hot topic at CeBIT 2008. 

- Deutsche Messe, Hannover -