Cisco VNI: Make Way for HD & 4K Video
If there were still any doubt that video will increasingly dominate the IP world, Cisco totally blew that away on Tuesday.
In the latest edition of its widely respected Visual Networking Index (VNI) study, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) forecast that IP video content will make up a whopping 79% of all IP traffic globally by 2018, up from 66% last year. Internet video will lead the way, accounting for 60% of all IP traffic, as the number of online video viewers jumps from 1.2 billion last year to 1.9 billion in 2018. (See Cisco Publishes Latest VNI Report.)
Even more notably, HD video will make up slightly more than half (52%) of IP video traffic in four years, up from 36% in 2012, according to the VNI forecast. Plus, Ultra HD, or 4K, video will make up 11% of IP video traffic by then, up from a mere 0.1% last year, as broadcasters, online video providers, and pay-TV providers all embrace the new H.265 standard for Ultra HD.