Several articles in the newspapers this morning offer concrete evidence that the convergence of digital media in South Korea is strengthening and accelerating. According to The Korea Times, both KT and SK Broadband are doubling their investment in IPTV this year from last year. They also aim to double the number of IPTV subscribers this year, over the number in 2009.
Not surprisingly, The Korea Times report notes that IPTV is driving broadband usage and demand, particularly when it is bundled together with fixed line and mobile services. In fact, SK Broadband in partnership with SK Telecom will promote a "three screen (TV, PC and Mobile) package to smartphone and IPTV users. This reinforces a point made in my last post. With convergence people will sometimes use a handset, sometimes a tablet, and sometimes a desktop PC, but increasingly they want the same content available at the touch of a finger on all the devices.
Three screens by no means represents the limit, since another new consumer trend is that people are putting the new flat screen television sets in more rooms of the house than just the family room or entertainment room, at least in Western countries.