Vuclip, a premium mobile video-on-demand (VOD) service for emerging markets, released the findings of its Global Video Insights (GVI) 2015 Survey that shows the video consumption habits and device preferences of Malaysian consumers.
With growing interest in over-the-top video-on-demand (OTT VOD) content in the country, GVI 2015 also sheds light on Malaysian consumers’ preferences for OTT services.
Over-the-Top (OTT) Content
Malaysian consumers consider as many as seven features as must-haves in an OTT content player, with a smooth user interface (61%), buffer-free experience (58%), high definition video quality (56%), and the latest/fresh videos (54%) as the top four. Respondents identify an additional three factors as important: autonomy in selecting streaming quality (47%), video download feature (46%) and ability to download multiple videos at the same time (45%).
“Our survey shows that consumers consistently want a smooth and fuss-free entertainment experience. One factor that stood out is the need for the latest and freshest videos. With hundreds of hours of video content uploaded online every minute, to a multitude of video sites, consumers want to be entertained by the newest and best videos. OTT providers need to be able to provide the most relevant and best content for their viewers,” Arun Prakash, Vuclip’s Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Device Preference for Video Consumption
The survey also covered Malaysian consumers’ general video consumption habits. They typically prefer their laptops/PCs when viewing video content (45%), followed by smartphones (23%), televisions (23%) and tablets (9%), with half of all respondents stating that they view videos on laptops/PCs and smartphones daily.
Mobile devices are the preferred device when viewing short form content with a run time of less than 10 minutes (84%, as compared with 70% for laptops/PCs and 17% for television). Television and laptops/PCs lead for long form content (93% and 71% respectively), such as films and videos with a run time of more than 10 minutes.
82% of respondents indicate they download videos, with free videos from websites preferred (62%), followed by torrents (44%); only 15% purchased videos online. These videos are likely comedies, the top genre at about 60%, followed by action and sports for males, and romance and drama for females.
Video Consumption behaviour
The results also show that Malaysian consumers use WiFi to access the internet on mobile devices (43%), as compared to 3G (32%) and 4G (22%) connections. Viewing of videos on smartphones is primarily done at home (80%), or where there is free WiFi (50%). At the same time, the survey highlights slow download speeds or buffering (56%), high data consumption (56%) and battery drainage (47%) as key concerns around smartphone video consumption in Malaysia.
“The modern video consumer in Malaysia wants early access to their favourite quality videos. We see that Malaysians tend to get around network constraints by viewing content at free WiFi locations or downloading videos. These are likely reasons why longer form content is viewed at home rather than on the go,” Prakash noted.
Increase of mobile video consumption
Projections indicate that smartphone subscription penetration in Malaysia is expected to grow by more than 100% by 2018. In the Southeast Asia and Oceania region, it is projected that the amount of data used monthly by each active smartphone will increase from an average of 1.2GB in 2015 to approximately 9GB by 2021.
“Statistics indicate that Malaysian mobile video consumption is rapidly increasing, reflecting the growth of global IP traffic, which will triple from 2014 to 2019. The years ahead are shaping up to be an exciting time for the digital content industry, especially in mobile video,” Prakash added.