According to Cambridge Consultants, as many as 25 per cent of people in developed countries are already tuning to internet radio once per week or more.
This market is driven by the proliferation of home Wi-Fi and broadband connections, and the vast number of broadcasters that are now distributing content via the web.
Forecasts estimate that the number of active listeners is likely to grow from 70million today to 180million in just four years' time.
However, current internet radio listening either requires a PC or a radio typically costing in excess of $120 (EUR90) - placing access beyond the reach of many potential consumers around the globe.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2007, Cambridge Consultants will demonstrate what could be a breakthrough in consumer electronics. Its Iona design for a portable, battery-powered Wi-Fi internet radio has an electronics component cost of less than $15 (EUR11). This figure could enable finished products to be produced for sale at around $50 to $60 (EUR38-45). Equally, the radio could be added cost-effectively to established product lines such as MP3 players, DAB and satellite radios, or mobile phones. Designed to operate without a PC, the Iona radio technology is said to be as accessible and easy to use as today's portable FM radios.
With a potentially global market opportunity in view, Cambridge Consultants has also developed a number of possible package designs, including wearable and table-top formats, to provide clients with a fast path to production in time for the Christmas 2007 holiday season.
Duncan Smith, Cambridge Consultants' head of consumer products, states: Traditional radios offer listeners the choice of relatively few stations that have to appeal to a very broad audience. Internet radio gives listeners access to many thousandscatering for very specific tastes from the mainstream to the exotic. Internet radio also allows you to tune in to your home town station wherever you happen to be in the world.
"Combined with the large and growing installed base of broadband connectionsI believe this market is poised to explode as soon as the right product price/performance point is reached. The Iona design more than hits that target."
Internet radio content is streamed via the worldwide weband is already hugely popular because of the large and growing infrastructure that allows access to it. There are now nearly a quarter of a billion broadband connections installed globallyfor example. This figure is said to be growing at 36 per cent annually.
The experience of developed countries illustrates what happens when the rich and diverse content of internet radio is easily accessible. In the USAfor examplea report from mobile media audience researcher Bridge Ratings notes that internet radio streaming is already the source of preference among young Americans for supplemental audio entertainmentand it will continue its growth as broadband connections rise. Weekly listening figures in the US were estimated at over 60million in April 2006and are expected to rise to almost 25 per cent of the USA population by the end of 2006. The firm predicts growth from 70 to over 180million listeners during 2006 to 2010.
UK statistics provide evidence of similar popularity in Europe; in the UK during September 2006the BBC reports serving more than 8million users with over 19million hours of online or 'listen again' requests. These figures are almost 20 per cent up on the same period in 2005.
For more informationvisit www.cambridgeconsultants.com
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