According to the pay TV forecast update report from the analysis company Digital TV Research, the number of IPTV users will surpass that of cable TV by 2026. Between 2021 and 2026, IPTV will increase by 63 million users, bringing the total number to 398 million.
The main reason for this situation is that the huge shift from cable television to IPTV in China will continue, "explained Simon Murray, chief analyst of digital television research.
By 2026, China will have 226 million IPTV users, while the rest of the world only has 172 million left. Between 2021 and 2026, China will add 19 million IPTV users. However, by the end of 2026 during the same period, China will lose 39 million cable TV users, bringing the total number to 89 million.
Digital TV Research predicts that between 2021 and 2026, pay TV users will increase by 13 million, bringing the global total to 1.01 billion. China will continue to provide nearly one-third of the world's pay TV users, expected to reach 315 million by the end of 2026. India will account for 178 million. By 2026, China and India will jointly account for half of the global pay TV users.