31 million people are streaming content in the U.S. — esports in particular — and more than double that in China. How do you monetize that at scale? Don’t miss this VB Live event, featuring VB’s own Dean Takahashi and others, for keen insights on how U.S. companies can effectively operate or begin to expand globally.
“There’s huge growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region for streaming content,” says Roc Harry, relationship director at Worldpay. He’s got the stats to prove it he says: Asia-Pacific accounts for almost half of worldwide video consumption on mobile devices, he explains, and is even outgrowing the Americas as the highest-grossing region when iOS and Google Play streaming apps revenue is combined.
It’s not just global companies going even more global, he explains. In addition to some of the larger companies such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon, there are a lot of regionalized companies in the Asia-Pacific area, such as Tencent, based in China, iQiyi in China, Pooq in South Korea, and Showroom in Japan. Another key app in China — the fastest growing app in 2017 — is Tik Tok, a short video social platform powered by music.
“These are just a few of the big companies that are regionalized in the Asia-Pacific region focusing solely on streaming content,” Harry says. “And Tik Tok is a great example of how quickly some subscribers are adopting to quirky streaming content and making it a regular part of their day-to-day lives.”
Expanding globally means taking entering these new streaming content markets, but the question remains: How do you monetize from there?
“The biggest challenge is finding a payments partner who can provide full coverage in the Asia-Pacific region,” Harry says. “As we know, Asia-Pacific is a very fragmented region. There’s not one payments partner who can provide support in every single country.”
It’s because of regulatory reasons, Harry explains. Some countries are quite closed-loop, and the process of being admitted as a foreign company into their market to provide services for ecommerce brands is quite difficult. There are also issues around currency controls. Merchants want to be settled in their own preferred currency, and there are restrictions around that as well.
Partnering with payment companies with expertise in the regions you’re interested in expanding into is essential, and so is keeping track of particular consumer spending habits, which vary noticeably from country to country.
“For example, what we’ve found is that merchants looking to sell into China need to encourage pay-per-use spending,” he says. “We’re not moving away from the subscription-based model, but we are seeing a bit more of a trend toward pay-per-use spending. These are people that want to just purchase content on the go, within the app. And we find that there are a lot more casual users, especially in some of the Asian countries.”
It’s all about a country’s infrastructure as well, Harry says. 4G and 5G broadband cellular network technology is quite important, especially for streaming apps, and while many countries are planning on increasing the speed of their broadband, the rate of adoption varies.
“There are other things to consider, such as making sure there are fast operating systems and the greatest selection of content, and friendlier user interfaces as well,” he says. “In the streaming content market, you always need to ensure that what you’re offering to consumers is convenient, quick, and readily available.”
To learn more about how to successfully monetize APAC streaming content, from entertainment to the explosion in esports, don’t miss this VB Live event.
Don’t miss out!
You’ll learn about:
- The opportunities provided by the growth in the esports streaming content market
- What’s causing the streaming content surge and market growth
- The technology making this explosive esports growth possible on a global scale
- Confronting the problems around scale in markets like China and elsewhere
Speakers:
- Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat
- Johannes Waldstein, CEO, FanAI Inc.
- Carter Rogers, Senior Analyst, SuperData Research
- Roc Harry, Relationship Director, Worldpay
Sponsored by Worldpay
