Videoconferencing market on road to recovery

Sales back on track following 'rotten' 2012, says Infonetics

The annus horribilis suffered by the videoconferencing market in 2012 was an "aberration", according to Infonetics Research.

The sector failed to live up to its billing as an industry great white hope last year after potential customers kept their wallets shut and revenue tanked badly in the first two quarters.

But according to Infonetics, following a "rotten" year, the market appears to be turning a corner.

Sales of videoconferencing and telepresence swelled 10 per cent sequentially to $822m (£543m) in the fourth quarter, a second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. This means that revenue for the full year was essentially flat.

"We view 2012 as an aberration, and see long-term interest by enterprises to deploy video communications, helping the market to sustain a six per cent CAGR [compound annual growth rate] through 2017," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics.

For the full year, Asia-Pacific was the only region to grow as sales jumped 11 per cent.

Revenue for nearly all dedicated videoconferencing systems fell last year, with multipoint control units being an exception.

Machowinski added: "Helping the market stay afloat were sales of PBX-based video end points, which more than doubled in 2012. PBX-based video is proving popular because it offers organisations a cost-effective way to enjoy multimedia communication using infrastructure they already have."