In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity Market Will Be Worth $9.82 Billion by 2024, Report

In a recently released report, San Francisco-based Grand View Research, Inc. projects the global In-Flight Entertainment And Connectivity (IFEC) market will reach USD 9.82 billion by 2024.

“The emergence of BYOD and development of novel wireless solutions are expected to boost market growth,” the research group states. “The increasing commercial aviation & fleet expansion have further bolstered industry growth. Growing availability of HD content across dynamic platforms are expected to increase IFEC systems’ demand.”

Grand View has included growth of hardware, connectivity (in-flight Wi-Fi), and entertainment content. It split hardware into portable and seat-back, and considered both streamed and stored content.

“The portable hardware segment [BYOD] is expected to grow at a remarkable pace owing to the enhanced customer experience the devices offer,” Grand View states.

“Recent administrative regulations pertaining to the IFEC integration into aircraft in countries such as the U.S. are further expected to throttle industry growth. These regulations restrict the in-flight entertainment & connectivity integration to a certain degree to offer safe travel to passengers by minimizing the possibility of mishaps associated with the cabling and weight of these systems.

“However, the IFEC system associated costs of content services and procurement costs are expected to pose challenges for the industry. The recent BYOD trend across industries, along with the advent of wireless portable electronic devices across dynamic sectors, is expected to impel the global IFEC market growth.”

Also included in Grand View’s report:

• Demand for Ka band and Ku band high-throughput satellites is expected to intensify, and will be seen as a key airline differentiator, as these increase data speeds and service becomes more cost efficient.
• Demand will be higher on narrow body aircraft, which is consistent with the number of narrow body aircraft in North America and Asia Pacific and the projected growth of these aircraft.

The company seems to contradict a recent report by Gogo that North America is a saturated market, labelling U.S. and Canada as “attractive markets on account of high flight connectivity and development in the technology, followed by Europe.”

Asia Pacific IFEC is expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of close to 20% from 2016 to 2024.

“As the industry is dynamic, upgrades of the existing infrastructure incur high operational costs, installation time, and certification requirements,” Grand View states. “For embedded systems, it is thus necessary to ensure high returns on investment made in the infrastructure. The Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) segment imposes logistical requirements and the need for updating & maintaining consistency across the fleet increases technological complexity.”

Grand View adds: “Hardware suppliers are anticipated to dominate the content delivery industry to offer exclusive content, along with creating new revenue streams for airlines. In addition, they concentrate on evolving data storage competencies or collaborating with data centres to increase data volumes.”

Featured Image: Airspace by Airbus Cabin, Source Airbus