That thump you just heard was the other shoe dropping: Ericsson today announced it had acquired Microsoft’s MediaRoom and, in the process, become a more significant player in the ecosystem. For Microsoft, meanwhile, it means they can turn their full attention toward making the Xbox the center of their TV and IPTV strategy without any more distractions.
Ericsson’s buy now gives it a market share of over 25% in the space. The companies are expected to c lose the deal in the second half of 2013.
“Ericsson’s vision of the Networked Society foresees 50 billion devices to be connected via broadband, mobility and cloud,” said Per Borgklint, SVPÂ at Ericsson. “Future video distribution will have a similar impact on consumer behavior and consumption as mobile voice has had. This acquisition contributes to a leading position for Ericsson with more than 40 customers, serving over 11 million subscriber households. In addition, Ericsson will be powered with senior competence and some of the most talented people within the field of IPTV distribution.”
While IPTV has so far played second fiddle in the U.S. with just AT&T and Verizon being major players, the global IPTV market is expected to reach 76 million subscribers in 2013, growing to 105 million subscribers and in 2015. Ericsson hits the ground running with MediaRoom, which is the platform behind some of the world’s top TV service providers, including AT&T U-verse, Entertain of Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, TELUS Optik TV(TM) and Swisscom. Mediaroom-powered TV services are offered on more than 22 million set top boxes deployed throughout the Americas, EMEA and APAC.
