Global video conferencing market falls short of industry expectations, yet still delivers growth

The global video conferencing market achieved annual revenues of $4.9 billion last year, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting. While this equates to 3.79 million shipments, and represents industry growth, it falls far short of the expectations of many. 

A year of growth, though many corporates hold back on spend

“The industry has been anticipating the arrival of a new age of work for some time,” says Alistair Johnston, Head of Collaboration, Futuresource Consulting, “with a video conferencing device in every room. However, despite the growth, many vendors were generally disappointed with market performance in 2023.  

“A combination of economic sluggishness in Western countries, and a sizeable return to pre-COVID working patterns in the Eastern world, has meant the expected goldrush has been delayed.  

“Our research shows that many organisations acknowledge they will have to invest in greater levels of collaboration technology. However, at the moment, these purchases can be pushed back to a future in which there is stronger economic growth and more certainty around work patterns. As a result, many are adopting a wait-and-see policy, or holding off until long-term office leases expire, postponing significant spending until they move to more appropriate premises.” 

Meeting equity not an issue for end users

Recent Futuresource end-user research also reveals that employees are satisfied with current meeting methods. There is little demand from end users for more technology, either at home or at the office. That’s despite the industry preoccupation with meeting equity, and the proposed need for remote attendees to see in-room participants clearly, often from multiple angles. 

“We asked respondents whether they feel like an equal participant in meetings when they join remotely and are faced with several in-person attendees,” says Johnston. “In more than 80% of cases, across the USA, UK, France, Germany, India and Japan, our interviewees said they felt like an equal participant. For some countries, particularly the USA, these rates rose to almost 90% for larger companies.  

“We did find that rates were lower for smaller companies, suggesting that some level of video conferencing investment is desirable to improve collaboration across multiple locations. This presents a continuing opportunity for the sector. Plus, we continue to see continued device growth across the board, albeit at lower levels than many have wished for.” 

Conferencing endpoints take the lion’s share

The Futuresource report segments the video conferencing market into touchscreen controllers, in-room compute, integrated codecs and cloud conferencing endpoints, which includes video bars and meeting room cameras. Meeting room cameras achieve the greatest market volumes, with collaboration bars taking second position. 

Cloud conferencing endpoints now account for 71% of the total video conferencing market by volume. Futuresource notes that this segment also exhibited the most growth in 2023, at 6% volume and 4% value. 

Video conferencing market growth expected across the forecast period

Moving forward, in volume terms the total video conferencing market will continue to expand, and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8% between 2023 and 2028. Collaboration bars are expected to grow at the fastest rate as they offer an obvious choice to organisations looking for a simple video conferencing option. These solutions are also increasingly able to meet a wider variety of use cases, from huddle spaces to larger, multi-camera rooms. 

Futuresource Consulting’s Global Video Conferencing Market Review 2024 provides detailed market analysis and forecasts, drawing on data from end users, channel players and vendors, to build a comprehensive view of the state of video conferencing in 2024 and beyond. For more information or to make a purchase, please contact Ben at ben.thrussell@futuresource-hq.com. 

About the author

Alistair Johnston

Alistair leads the Collaboration team at Futuresource Consulting, researching and consulting on the ways we work together, both in the office and remotely.

With a background in both operations and marketing, Alistair is particularly interested in how individuals and companies adapt under conditions of technological and social change.

Alistair has an economics degree from the University in Cambridge, and has previously worked as a business analyst, particularly within the financial sector.