Digi content market set for vast embulgement, will be $154bn in 2019

Physical possessions? Pah! We'll all be sat at home in our pants playing games

Global digital content sales are on track to hit $154bn (£113bn) annually by 2019, up 60 per cent from 2014, according to recent analysis.

The current market is worth $99bn (£65bn) and is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 9.4 per cent over the next five years, said a report by crystal ball gazers at Juniper Research.

Mobile and online games will account for the largest share of sales, as gamers continue to opt for digital formats, it said.

However, this is set to decrease from the current proportion of 44 per cent, as more users stream videos.

Around one third of digital content revenue will come from video streaming by 2019.

Juniper's Digital Content Business Models report cited the success of platforms such as the Steam online store from game firm Valve, which now has more than 125 million users.

The report said mobile network operators are seeking a piece of the digital content pie by "bundling" content into a monthly subscription. It cited the example of a number of European MNOs partnering with Spotify.

It noted AT&T, Verizon, Orange and Deutsche Telekom are increasingly offering services across fixed networks, mobile networs, broadband and internet and pay TV - the so-called "quad play".

"In markets where fixed line incumbents previously divested their mobile interests, those players are now seeking to reacquire a presence in the mobile arena," said the report.

It also cited BT’s £12.5bn acquisition of EE as an attempt to put the giant on an equal footing with Virgin Media. ®