World+dog will soon watch 'at least 200 pr0n vids a year'

Bored analysts consult 'extensive in-house database' during research

In the year 2020 everyone on the planet will on average watch at least 200 porn videos annually - a 55 per cent increase from 2015 - according to crystal ball-gazers Juniper.

Of course, that figure does not account for every single person – with some watchers likely to, err, contribute significantly more to the global average than others.

Smartphone porn-viewers are on target to watch an average of 348 videos this year.

The firm reckons the industry will be worth $5.6bn (£3.6bn) in 2019. Net growth will be greatest in the US, it said. Uptake will also increase in developing countries as they get greater connectivity.

In a statement which proves analysts can even make porn dull, Juniper said:

Monetisation has been an issue for the adult industry in recent years: we’ve seen an increased uptake towards videochat services, where customers show a preference for a particular host.

Altering the business model is a further idea: only a tiny minority of site visitors convert into paying traffic. It may be more lucrative for service providers to migrate from a subscription plan to an ad-based model to create the opportunity to generate higher revenues from traffic.

When asked what the methodology was behind the research, Juniper said it used "information from the market, information from interviews with key players" and "our extensive in-house database of country-level statistical data."

It said it also used info from Pornhub, which has the largest network of adult video sites globally.

In a separate and entirely unrelated piece of research from Gartner, worldwide IT spending is on pace to total $3.5tn in 2015, a 5.5 per cent decline from 2014.

El Reg would suggest more IT buyers should be encouraged to put down their video-enabled smartphones, in order to get them reaching for their wallets instead. ®