vnunet.com analysis: Apple poised to ignite mobile video

Apple has kicked off a video download industry, but it's up to the content creators to fill in the second act

Apple's introduction of a video playing iPod and a video download service is a smart move, according to industry experts polled by vnunet.com.

"This will offer Apple a way to test the waters for non-music video content, " said Susan Kevorkian, senior research analyst for consumer markets at IDC.

"The information that Apple gathers will help form its decision in the future about offering a more video-centric device with a larger display.

"We think a larger display size will be important to gain consumer acceptance of a video-focused device because it offers a more comfortable viewing experience."

While many consider the small screen size of the video iPod a factor that could limit the device's success, Kevorkian pointed out that consumers have very little experience with mobile video.

This lack of experience comes with a lack of expectations, which effectively offers Apple the opportunity to set a de facto standard for portable video.

The company also won praise for offering over 2,000 music videos for sale through its iTunes music store.

At $1.99 per video, consumers will be inclined to buy the video instead of just the song, in order to have the option to watch the video, Kevorkian predicted. This should make them more accustomed with the iPod's video features.

Julie Ask, research director for telecoms and automotive at Jupiter Research, said: "It's still a great audio device and 'by the way, it does video too'. Even if people don't play video, Apple still wins. It still has 80 per cent market share in media devices."

The emergence of a video download service was inevitable, according to Ask. Mobile phones are offering video through 3G data networks and the DVB-H broadcast technology, and Sony's Playstation Portable offers movies through the use of the proprietary Universal Media Disk.

However, Jupiter Research is quick to counter claims that consumers do not want to watch video on mobile devices. A study by the analyst firm showed that one in every two consumers is interested in mobile video.