Technology & IT | Monday 2 March, 2015 11:15 am |

- Mobile Becomes Platform of Choice for Growing Consumer Audience

Vuclip, the leading premium mobile video on demand service (VOD) for emerging markets today announced the results of a report highlighting the most significant mobile video trends for the Middle East in 2014. The report also shed insights on predominant trends related to consumer behavior, popular content and mobile operating systems and devices.
Top Three Mobile Video Trends of 2014
here are the year's top trends in consumer behavior related to viewing mobile video:
• Mobile is becoming the first and preferred screen -- 66 percent of 1300 respondents in the Middle East preferred mobile as their primary method for watching their favorite movies, music videos, and TV shows. Only 14 percent of respondents preferred their televisions.
• People are increasing the time they spend watching mobile video – 78 percent of Middle East respondents reported to have stated that they will increase the amount of time they watch videos on mobile in the future.
• The overall experience, from unbuffered viewing to ease of payment, is critical – 63 percent of respondents said it is important that the video not buffer while they are watching it. 52 percent of respondents said they would prefer the ease of paying through their mobile carrier to purchase mobile videos; 25 percent said they would prefer credit / store payment and 23 percent preferred net banking payment, respectively.
Popular Regional Content & Search Terms in Q4 of 2014
Arab Idol and new shows from MBC such as Desert Force, Driven, Al Hokm continued to dominate the search and download charts.
The Middle East also saw a spike in Tagalog music and TV entertainment and celebrity gossip remained high on the agenda with popular searches around celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Katrina Kaif, Haifa Wehbe and Nancy Ajram.
Mobile Operating System and Device Trends
2014 also saw some major shifts in terms of devices that people used to connect to Vuclip. In the Middle East, the BlackBerry Bold series including 9900, 9790 and 9780, theNokia Symbian lines such as the E5, E63 and E51 in addition to Nokia N73 and N95 N ceded share on Vuclip to the iPhone, Galaxy S IV, and the various BlackBerry 10 handsets.
"2014 saw mobile video viewing exploding in growth and becoming the primary form of entertainment for many consumers in the Middle East," said Arun Prakash, COO for Vuclip. "Our rapid subscriber growth is a testimonial to the fact that people in the region highly value an excellent viewing experience and compelling content tailored to this medium. And they are willing to pay for the same."
Prakash continued, "With the rapid adoption of low cost smartphones and increasing accessibility of the mobile Internet, no doubt 2015 will bring tremendous momentum to the mobile video economy. We are enabling transformation in the way people consume entertainment in these markets. We feel both pride and responsibility and that's what drives us to continue to innovate to deliver a superior mobile video on demand experience to consumers."
The findings of the report align with the rapid subscriber growth that Vuclip is currently experiencing with over 5 million subscribers signed on to enjoy long and short form, premium, unbuffered video content.