New Media Forecasts report, ZenithOptimedia found that the leading country in 2012 terms of new media adoption was Norway, with an average penetration rate of 38.8% across three key digital technologies – smartphones, tablets and IPTV.
It was followed by France on 35.7%, the Netherlands on 35.1%, Sweden on 31.3% and Denmark on 31.2%. However, balance will shift a little towards 2015. ZenithOptimedia expects the Netherlands to be on top in 2015 with a penetration of 65.1%, followed by France 60.8% and Ireland 50.2%.
“Looking at the individual markets, Norway had the highest average penetration in 2012, thanks to its high take-up of smartphones (65%, compared to an average 44% in these 19 markets) and tablets (13%, compared to a 9% average). Sweden and Denmark also feature in the top five, reflecting Scandinavia’s traditional consumer enthusiasm for the internet and digital media”, ZenithOptimedia concludes in it’s Forecast. “In fact, despite the continued economic troubles in the region, all of the top five markets were in Western Europe. The highest-ranked market from outside Western Europe was Canada, in sixth place. Australia, in seventh place, was the highest-placed market from Asia Pacific, while Hungary was the highest-placed from Central & Eastern Europe, at 16th. Brazil, at 17th, is the only Latin American market among our top 19.”
For the future ZenithOptimedia sees a dominating role forWestern Europe. “The Netherlands are expected to take the top position (65.1 %). This is thanks to its extremely rapid adoption of IPTV, which broadband providers are competing to offer as a value-added service to take advantage of the fast-paced build-out of new fibre-optic infrastructure.”
ZenithOptimedia expects 91% of the Dutch households to use IPTV in 2015. “The swift growth of IPTV has already started eroding the number of subscribers to cable and satellite TV. We estimate that in 2012 27% of households in the Netherlands had IPTV, up from 10% in 2010. By 2015 we forecast IPTV to be in 91% of Dutch households.”
