Combined figures for advertising, broadcasting and cable TV, publishing, movies and entertainment sectors in Singapore hit $2,3b in 2015 and this was a result of 0,2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2011. It is now projected for Singapore Media Industry Market Size to reach at $3,3b level by 2020 with CAGR 3.3% for the period 2015 - 2020.
Singapore, that has an energetic economy and highly literate middle class with 150% mobile phone penetration rate represents roughly 1% of Asia - Pacific region for media industry market value where Asia - Pacific countries are defined as Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. New Zealand ($2,3b) illustrated similarities with Singapore in terms of market size and China led the region at $106b. Runner up was Japan at $70b, followed by Australia at $12b.
It is not surprising that media distribution in Singapore has maintained its traditional pattern where "broadcasting and cable TV" continued having its lion share at 40%, followed by "publishing" at 30% and "advertising" is slightly below 20% level.
When five forces are evaluated for the recent landscape (not forgetting that there is not any particular focus on any certain channel but entire media ecosystem with easy to detect dynamics like consumers buying books digitally from the overseas suppliers as there is none or very limited suppliers in Singapore which affects publishing channel; cable TV customers having limited or no saying in the formation of products, services and its subscription rates; combats with illegal music and movies download being overridden with proper, legal and mostly free or inexpensive services and etcetera), we recruit the following learning:
Given the wide range and mixed genre of buyer profile in the industry which ranges from individuals who do not have significant muscle, to large corporations and government agencies with significant importance in the formation of the market size and dictating the price of the services they acquire; buyer's power varies considerably. As a result, "price sensitivity" is the first factor that has a tight association with buyer's power input in many analysis.
However, the market is continuing to accommodate dominant supplier powers for a long time now and their strong emphasis and control pushing "quality and cost" element to its limits is not surprising at all.
Singapore's credibility, access to all major markets, high user penetration rates and spending power of its citizens tend to promise a healthier market growth and this has, still been and will continue to be the main factor influencing new entrants - at least to get them flip all the stones and try out opportunities.
Congestion of the market distributes the forces of "beneficial alternatives", "low-cost switching" and "cheap alternatives" nearly evenly that makes it practically indifferent for buyers to change or remain with their suppliers. This empowers the significance of substitutes as advertisers may wish to engage smaller scale agencies or handle the majority of the tasks themselves through their in-house teams.
Major diversification in the market like telecommunication companies also offering cable TV services, or entertainment companies also operating in consumer electronics segment keeps rivalry in moderate level although most of the media companies that are functioning across various industries actually increase the rivalry drastically.
In summary, all four forces, buyer's power, supplier's power, new entrants and rivalry are considered to be "moderate" where the rating is "strong" for substitutes.
It does not come as a surprise that there does not exist a clear figure representing the market share of "digital media" let alone any formal research merely on this. This is highly likely to be a result of the amalgamation of multiple media services being offered through single players as lines are blurred a lot; or maybe non-existent? Seems like guesstimates will continue to be our best bet.
