MHL technology grows as 30% stream video to mobiles

Samsung, Sony, Nokia and Toshiba collaborated with the developer Silicon Image to develop the Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) specification. It has been adopted by more than 160 firms that range from major automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers to smaller companies that sell adaptors and accessories and will be in more than 200 million devices by the end of the year.

MHL President Judy Chen said, “Consumers want to connect their home, portable and mobile CE devices together now more than ever before, providing content companies, service providers and hardware vendors with new revenue opportunities. With the increase in accessibility to content and the advent of next-generation LTE network speeds, MHL technology can be a true enabler and differentiator for both device platforms and content and service providers.”

Futuresource Consulting Senior Market Analyst David Sidebottom said, “The explosion of device uptake, both now and in the future, will be a key driver in the growth of digital content consumption, providing consumers with a whole choice of access points. This, combined with increased content availability and who and how the consumer shares these experiences, will define the ‘content everywhere’ movement.”

Sidebottom presented data that said 30% of UK smartphone owners (13 million) stream video to their mobile; 50% of the $8 billion consumer apps global spending is on gaming; at the end of 2011 there were more than 35 million smartphones in use in the UK; and by 2016 there will be nearly 20 million tablets in use in the UK.

Almost 40 executives from the content, broadcast, hardware, operator and retail sectors of the entertainment industry attended the event at the Soho Hotel in London. Futuresource will be the media partner for online video conference and expo Streaming Media Europe Oct. 15-17.

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