Type of Article: MacTech Blog

There are more than 28 million small business owners in the United States, some 80% of whom are non-employers. Small business use of mobile devices—in particular “smart” devices—opens up a world of opportunity, much like it has done in the consumer marketplace, according to Packaged Facts, a a division of MarketResearch.com.

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows the total number of cloud-DVR subscribers worldwide will exceed 4.6 million in 2015 and total 24 million by 2018.

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) forecasts US$3.1 billion global revenues in 2015 for biometrics in the consumer and enterprise sectors with much of the growth coming from smartphone solutions.

Existing smartphone hardware provides a relatively stable foothold for some authentication modalities but rapid advances in the biometrics field will drive further smartphone hardware upgrades. Meanwhile, pioneering algorithm design and cloud computing services are transforming user authentication.

According to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) the worldwide pay TV market grew at a steady rate of 4% in 2014 to reach 923.5 million subscribers.

“Despite the growth in subscriber base, weak currency exchange rates resulted in a slower increase of pay TV market service revenue. Worldwide the pay TV market generated US$257 billion in 2014 and is expected to surpass 1.1 billion subscribers in 2020 with a CAGR 2.7%,” says Jake Saunders, vice president and practice director of Core Forecasting.

Starting from a base of $249 million 2015, global mobile biometrics revenue is forecast to reach $3.5 billion by 2024, with cumulative revenue for the 10-year period totaling $17.5 billion, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets).

Biometrics for mobile devices have finally reached a tipping point. The march began with the release of the Apple iPhone in 2007 and later the iPad, each subsequently matched by Android competitors. These smartphones and tablets finally have enough processing power and hardware capabilities to put biometrics directly into their users’ hands.