Although Asia Pacific is traditionally referred to as a mobile-driven region, the pandemic accelerated the importance taken by larger screens in the region, and 110 million additional pay TV subscriptions are expected to be observed in the next 5 years according to Dataxis.
As population is also expected to increase drastically, regional penetration rate will grow slowly, from 57% in 2021 to 62% in 2026. The most significant transformations will occur in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with pay TV markets growing respectively by +32% and +17%.
This market growth is carried by the fast expansion of IPTV and OTT subscriptions made possible by the rapid expansion of broadband connectivity. Although connecting remote Asian regions that still don't have a stable access to the internet remains a challenge, a 65%-growth in IPTV subscriptions is expected in by 2026. To promote OTT offers, TV operators are betting on high end set-top boxes and on content aggregation. Malaysian pay TV operator Astro for example announced last year that it was looking to secure up to 15 currently standalone OTT platforms on its service.
China and India remain the two largest markets by subscribers and will account for 74% of the total pay TV subscribers in 2026. Chinese IPTV subscribers alone will account for 35%.
The most visible impacts will concern cable and DTH industries, expected to respectively lose 35 and 6 million clients in the next 5 years. In 2021, Disney closed 18 of its linear cable channels in South East Asia, to promote its new SVOD service Disney+ in the region.
