Video Calling Enjoys Increased Popularity

Video calling is one feature that most of the latest smartphones around the world have, but it is not available exclusively on these devices, and it appears that it benefits from increased popularity among users of all kind.

In fact, video calling is most used on the PC area, and has only recently made it to mobile devices and to other screens as well, such as TVs.

According to a recent NPD In-Stat forecast, the number of users taking advantage of video calling will increase even more in the near future, and the number of active video callers is expected to reach 380 million in 2015, up from only 63 million last year.

“While the mobile arena is relatively nascent, it has fueled much of the growth in usage over the course of 2011,” according to Amy Cravens, senior analyst.

“The entry of players with significant market presence has been critical in pushing mass adoption in mobile video calling. Currently, the living room market is still quite small; however, In-Stat expects to see significant developments in this market in the coming years.”

The new NPD In-Stat research, Video Calling Across Screen Types: PC, Mobile, and Living Room covers various aspects of the video calling market, including usage data and more.

Some of the key points of the analysis include:

- PC video calling will continue to account for the majority of video calling minutes throughout the forecast period.
- Skype is the market leader in video calling solutions across screen types: PC, mobile, and TV.
- Integration with other applications, particularly social networking, will be a significant market driver.
- Active usage rates vary significantly across screen types.

The study looks at some of the most popular video calling services out there, including AOL AV, Apple FaceTime, fring, Google Chat and Hangouts, Microsoft Kinect, ooVoo, Raketu, Skype, and Tango.