The market for fixed residential video telephony is beginning to take shape as suppliers are finally beginning to meet the demand for higher quality, more affordable devices.
Technological advancements, strong competition from Far Eastern manufacturers and the emergence of broadband have all played an important role in the amelioration of previous supply-side issues. Subsequently, a growing number of operators (for example, Telecom Italia, SingTel and France Telecom), manufacturers (such as Motorola) and VoIP providers (for example, Skype and Sony) are entering the market. Whilst success to date appears mixed, the success of Telecom Italia’s analogue video telephony service (which had sold 765,000 videophones in the 15 months to September 2005) seems promising for the market overall.