Report: Chinese mobile video to jump with 2008 Olympics

Staying in the Asia-Pacific region, a new ABI Research study forecasts the Chinese mobile video market will grow to more than 32 million users in 2008, a spike attributed to subscriber interest in the Beijing Summer Olympics. According to ABI, roughly 27 percent of the consumer base will access mobile video via broadcasting technology, while the remaining 73 percent will employ unicast streaming technology.

Ongoing standards debates will no doubt impact the Chinese market, ABI added. "It is likely that local media groups and TV stations will deploy DAB [the first phase of Chinese mobile multimedia broadcasting standards] initially, and implement T-DMB [a terrestrial version of SK Telecom's mobile video format] at a later date," ABI research director Jake Saunders said in a prepared statement. "The Chinese government will give preference to a standard that will be used in the 2008 Olympics, and DAB has been listed as one of the broadcast services that will be available at the Beijing Games."

For more on Chinese mobile video growth:
- read this release

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