Analyst: Video Games To Lead Entertainment Growth

According to a new analyst report from firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the world’s entertainment and media industries will grow faster in the second half of the decade than the first, reaching estimated total annual sales of $1.8 trillion by 2009. Interestingly, the report predicts that the fastest growing media sector worldwide will be video games, with the next generation of consoles and increased online and wireless access resulting in a double digit growth rate per year. The overall worth of the video game industry worldwide is projected to grow from $25 billion in 2004 to $55 billion in 2009. The rest of the PriceWaterHouseCoopers analysis also produces some interesting predictions. In particular, it suggests that the United States will remain the largest media market at $690 billion, but would grow at the slowest average annual rate, of just 5.6 percent. The Asia Pacific region, boosted by emerging markets in China and India, will expand the fastest at near 12 percent, it's suggested – to reach $432 billion in the same period. Analysts behind the report expect the global number of households with DVD players to pass 304 million by 2009, with broadband access reaching 321 million, and subscription TV households a total of 167 million households. Broadband is also expected to rocket in pervasiveness, and is expected to supplant dial-up Internet access for the majority Internet share within the decade, with Asia seeing a growth in broadband access of up to 27 percent.