Enterprises Tune in to Video Apps
The picture may have turned fuzzy for many consumer- focused streaming video dot-coms, but enterprises are tuning in to the technology. Enterprises are projected to spend $2.8 billion on streaming video by 2005, up from $140 million last year, according to a report this month by Jupiter Media Metrix Inc., of New York. Leading the charge is a need to communicate internally with employees. About 90 percent of enterprises that have adopted streaming video are using it for internal communications, the survey of 30 U.S. companies found.
Within 18 months, 45 percent of the companies surveyed plan to extend streaming video into customer service applications, compared with 13 percent last year. By 2005, Jupiter predicts that most of the spending on streaming video applications will be for product launches and marketing, rather than on todays favorite: internal communications.
More Consumers Use Media Players
The consumer market for streaming video and audio is far from dead. Consumers are increasingly using media players such as those from RealNetworks Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to play both online and offline video and audio, according to a Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. report released this month.
The number of home users of media players increased 33.2 percent between January 2000 and January 2001, while the number of at-work users increased 34.9 percent over the same period, the report found.