Pricing Issues Prove Tricky in the Asia Pacific Conferencing Services Market

Business Wire, Sept 20, 2004

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- With the competitive Asia Pacific conferencing services market offering multiple options, even a slight increase in price can drive customers toward competitors. To sustain revenue growth and improve customer retention, service providers are likely to differentiate their services by innovatively packaging them.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.communicationsapplications.frost.com), Asia Pacific Conferencing Services Market, reveals that the market earned revenue totaling $353.2 million in 2003. It is expected to reach $710.7 million in 2010.

With increasing competition in Asia Pacific, the prices of conferencing services are on a continuous decline. However, service providers can take heart from the fact that the significant drop in prices has led to an increase in the duration and frequency of calls.

The conferencing service is a factor of volume of use and typically, the prices are based on usage and number of participants per session. The demand for conferencing services depends on the type of service offered, presence of service provider and integration of services.

"As more countries invest heavily in Internet protocol (IP)-based networks, the volume of usage is likely to increase, and in turn, improve revenue even though cost per minute is likely to drop," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Monica Deveshwar.

In most Asia Pacific countries, ongoing telecom reforms that favor pure conferencing services providers have helped ease the dominance of incumbents on the market. The current lack of scale in emerging markets curbs companies' participation with the help of partners, which hampers market penetration from a service provision perspective.

Without their own infrastructure, it is difficult for service providers to sustain and gain significant entry into new markets. Nevertheless, some service providers are moving ahead with their expansion plans by identifying key markets and establishing direct presence to maximize revenue.

When trying to break into new markets, service providers of IP technology will have to contend with the prevalence of integrated services digital network (ISDN), which has been the mainstay for conferencing services.

"There will expectedly be high resistance to IP migration among incumbent service providers since it will mean a slew of fresh investments on the infrastructure," notes Deveshwar.

However, the increasing stability and cheaper cost offered by IP have initiated a gradual shift from ISDN-based services to IP-based services. IP also offers providers the benefit of flexibility, which can help them offer a wider range of services to customers.

IP adoption is likely to usher in a new era of collaborative conferencing solutions that can support all communications and workflow requirements of enterprises.

If you are interested in a research overview to the Asia Pacific Conferencing Services Market, please e-mail Dustin McVey (dmcvey@frost.com) with the following information:

--APAC Conferencing Services Market (4149-64)

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Asia Pacific Conferencing Services Market, explores growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific audio, video, and Web conferencing services markets by identifying market drivers and restraints. It details the competitive landscape and forecasts pricing and revenue by conference type. It also highlights market trends for technology, distribution, and uptake by verticals. The study provides conferencing services vendors with a detailed look at the current dynamics in the rapidly evolving market. Interviews and executive summaries are available to the press.

Frost & Sullivan, an international growth consultancy, has been supporting clients' expansion for more than four decades. Our market expertise covers a broad spectrum of industries, while our portfolio of advisory competencies includes custom strategic consulting, market intelligence, and management training. Our mission is to forge partnerships with our clients' management teams to deliver market insights and to create value and drive growth through innovative approaches. Frost & Sullivan's network of consultants, industry experts, corporate trainers, and support staff spans the globe with offices in every major country.

Asia Pacific Conferencing Services Market

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Keywords in this release: Conferencing, collaboration, Asia Pacific, Internet protocol, IP technology, integrated services digital network, ISDN, collaborative solutions, pure conferencing services providers, research, information, market, trends, technology, service, forecast.