Videoconferencing "Cannibalized" by Mobile Devices

The videoconferencing market is moving away from expensive telepresence systems and toward mobile applications, says Andrew Davis, senior partner of Wainhouse Research. 

Davis says mobile applications will soon outpace other videoconferencing offerings such as tele-presence and room-based systems. 

In fact, demand for telepresence systems is expected to decline sharply in the coming years as the market for these systems becomes saturated with options.

That will not come as a surprise to observers who follow the industry. Over the last couple of years, enterprise and business interest in videoconferencing likewise has been moving to desktop approaches rather than room-based approaches. 

Revenues generated by the enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence market dropped to $644 million in the second quarter of 2012, a 6 percent decline, according to a new report by market research firm Infonetics Research.