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[297 Pages Report] The global Content Delivery Network (CDN) market size is expected to grow from USD 14.4 billion in 2020 to USD 27.9 billion in 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.1% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the growth of the CDN market include the rising need for effective solutions to enable live and uninterrupted content delivery over a high-speed data network, increasing demand for enhanced QoE (Quality of Experience) and QoS (Quality of Service), a proliferation of video and rich media over websites, increasing demand for enhanced video content and latency-free online gaming experience, and increasing internet penetration and adoption of mobile devices leading to rising opportunities for mobile CDN. 

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruption across every line of businesses, including enterprises, industrial, and government sectors. However, in recent times, with lockdown restrictions getting relaxed in almost every region across the world, businesses in various industry verticals are resuming their operations. Numerous organizations, including tech companies and other companies in various sectors, have provided their employees with work from home facilities, which is increasing the network traffic at an alarming rate. Due to this factor, multiple organizations are adopting the CDNs, to reduce content load time. Moreover, during the pandemic, the use of media and entertainment platforms such as Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms requiring high-quality video content is surging the demand for CDN solutions. Increased online shopping penetration, eLearning, and online gaming have increased the demand for CDNs to reduce server load and provide uninterrupted content delivery.

Furthermore, organizations are currently focusing on business continuity and sustainability with a larger focus to regain minimum Return on Investment (RoI).  CDN providers are way ahead in helping these organizations during the COVID-19 crisis to ensure continued connectivity for the functioning of critical business applications. In addition, almost all educational institutes worldwide have shifted their classes to online platforms and applications. In addition, many SMEs and large enterprises globally are working remotely during the pandemic. Therefore, there is an alarming rise in the usage of the internet during the pandemic among all the application areas, due to which network traffic has increased strongly. This has created huge growth in the demand for CDN solutions to provide efficient content delivery to the end-users. Therefore, the market growth of CDN is expected to rise during the pandemic.

Solutions segment to account for a larger market size during the forecast period 

The CDN market by component is segmented into the solutions and the services. The solutions segment is estimated to lead the market in terms of revenue during the forecast period. The solutions segment of the CDN market is segmented into web performance optimization, media delivery, and cloud security. The maximum volume of data or content accessible on the internet nowadays is consumed through CDN. Users have no patience to wait for the content to buffer, and this challenge has made content delivery even more crucial for organizations. The increasing digitalization across the globe is expected to drive the adoption of CDN solutions. Digitalization trends, such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), Choose Your Own Device (CYOD), mobility, and social media marketing, have eased the operation of organizations and increased the traffic over the existing networks.

Web performance optimization solution segment to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

The CDN market by solutions is segmented into web performance optimization, media delivery, and cloud security. Web performance optimization is used to speed up the delivery of the web pages or website content for any organization on various end-user devices. This reduces the latency of the pages by an intelligent routing method. Web performance optimization caters to the end users by delivering a replica or copy of the web page or website, if available on the CDN server that is near to the location of the user. If the requested content is not available on the closest server, then this solution routes the user request to the next-closest CDN or the third-party server that contains the page. Therefore, this solution helps in reducing the latency while offering smooth storage provisioning as well as orchestration of the entire workflow. This, in turn, facilitates the delivery of better QoE and QoS to the end-user.

Storage services, by services segment to lead the market during the forecast period 

The global CDN services segment comprises storage services, analytics and performance monitoring, website and API management, network optimization services, support & maintanance, and others. Storage services manage the overall stored data and offer scalability. Moreover, these services also offer high protection to the stored data across multiple centers and provide protection layers to safeguard the data. CDN vendors try their best to offer effective storage services so that content replication and storage is done closer to the end user's location. CDN solution providers are emphasizing on and providing vast amounts of storage options with a faster retrieval rate. Cloud storage helps in storing website content and distributing the data to the customers. These cloud storage services reduce storage and maintenance expenses.

A dynamic content segment to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

The global CDN content type segment comprises static content and dynamic content. Dynamic content is personalized and adapts based on the data provider has about the user and on the access time. Its goal is to deliver an engaging and satisfying online experience for the visitor. The ever-increasing video content is expected to be the main reason for the proliferation of the CDN market. High-quality videos need to be delivered to the users, irrespective of their location, and the distance between the content creators and users. Here, CDN plays a vital role by using the geographically distributed network of connected servers. These servers deliver on-demand live videos to users’ devices. The videos are of high quality and are accessible on-demand on web-connected devices.

Traditional CDN, by provider type segment to lead the market during the forecast period

Based on provider type, CDN market has been segmented into traditional CDN, telco CDN, cloud CDN, P2P CDN, and others. Traditional CDN providers include pure players in the CDN market. These players provide various CDN solutions, such as network optimization, content acceleration, and media delivery, for the delivery of static and dynamic content over the internet. Traditional CDN providers involve a large set of servers that are strategically deployed across the globe and balance the load on the existing networks. This distributed network infrastructure pushes the requested content to the closest server for delivering the content to the user with the lowest latency.

Healthcare segment, by application to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Based on application, CDN market has been segmented into media and entertainment, online gaming, retail and eCommerce, eLearning, healthcare, and enterprises. The healthcare services application is one of the lucrative application areas in the CDN domain. This segment faces various technological challenges, such as a rising number of regulations and cybersecurity, and changing medical service demands for customers. The healthcare segment works on critical and time-based operating arrangements that require real-time data and instructions, which the mobile and system connectivity has made possible. CDN is one such solution that has benefited this segment on a large scale due to the high adoption of the telemedicine trend. Healthcare enterprises collaborate across locations for drug and medicine development and diagnostics.

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North America to account for the largest market size during the forecast period

North America is one of the most prominent regions in the CDN market. The growth of the CDN market in North America is contributed by the growing number of users accessing the web content. CDN vendors in the region are increasing their focus on improving website performance and providing a secure environment while delivering content to users. The growing digitalization in numerous industry verticals, including retail and eCommerce, gaming, and media and entertainment, is driving the adoption of CDN solutions in the region. Moreover, the presence of leading companies, such as Akamai, AWS, Microsoft, Limelight Networks, and Cloudflare, has fueled innovation in the CDN market, whereas startup companies, including Fastly, StackPath, and QUANTIL, have contributed to the growth of the market to a large extent. North America is expected to continue its lead in the CDN market.

Market Dynamics

Driver: Rising need for effective solutions to enable live and uninterrupted content delivery over high-speed data network

CDN delivers static, dynamic, and interactive content to end users, at an increased speed and lower bandwidth. The content requests made by users are automatically routed to the nearest servers in the network. The content is then delivered to users by speeding up the page loading process in the maximum bandwidth. The buffering duration of the content affects the interest of the customers. For instance, the business of online retailers is dependent on engaging customers until they check out and order products. Optimization and better delivery of content help organizations in retaining customers as long as possible, to convert them into prospects. Social media organizations have added video content to their web pages and made them popular among viewers. Many organizations also share live events to increase the traffic on their websites and strengthen their business. This is a part of their marketing strategy and is very well supported by the CDN solutions implementation. Therefore, the need for effective CDN solutions optimizing the live and uninterrupted delivery of content and its loading at the end-users’ location is an important driver assisting in the growth of the CDN market.

Restraint: Complex architecture and concern about Quality of Service (QoS)

QoS refers to the monitoring of infrastructure components, such as servers, routers, and network traffic. Regularly managing these components is difficult, as it requires significant time, money, and effort from the solution providers. The site administrators and mobile operators need to ensure that these components are properly executed to deliver better QoS to end-users. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) CDN is unpredictable and dynamic and has a complex architecture. A full-fledged decentralized protocol is required to continuously monitor and manage the system and recover it from errors. Security and management of the system are the major concerns of P2P CDN because of the lack of centralized control. Furthermore, the need for enhanced QoS varies based on the streaming types preferred by the end users. For instance, users can tolerate a streaming delay in on-demand videos, whereas the requirement of QoS is much more specific in live video streaming. Delay in live video streaming of live matches and video conferencing may highly affect the QoS of a CDN vendor. The quality of the content may degrade, as the content is getting delivered from various peer sources.

Opportunity: Growing interest of consumers in Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms and Video on Demand (VoD) for entertainment  

The OTT video consumption is rapidly evolving due to the ongoing advancements in digital infrastructure and efforts adopted by OTT platforms to create interesting content for consumers at affordable prices while delivering significant value. Moreover, the increased adoption of mobile devices, the popularity of large screens, and investments in original content creation are further driving the consumption. Furthermore, the demand for VoD services is increasing as it is an easier, faster, cheaper, and comfortable method to watch videos enabling subscribers to download programs and watch them later. OTT and VoD users expect fast access to the programs and also expect to experience improved broadcast quality. The increasing number of users for OTT and VoD is increasing the demand for CDN solutions. A CDN can help media network admins meet their expectations more efficiently and cost-effectively. In addition, a VoD CDN accelerates delivery by providing users with the video from the servers that are closest to user’s location by caching content on multiple servers dispersed geographically. Moreover, a CDN can help organizations deliver OTT content to their audiences in the most efficient way by enabling OTT platforms with minimized chances of struggling with heavy network traffic.

Challenge: Data security and privacy concerns

With the increasing use of video streaming solutions for watching movies and advertisements, there is a rise in viruses and cyberattacks. Often, users send and receive various video links to one another, which are sometimes corrupted by viruses. Ultimately, these viruses can potentially expose private details of the recipients to malicious hackers and can affect the devices of all the recipients. The security of video content has become crucial. Video streaming solution providers need to develop and provide secured video streaming solutions to users. Security and privacy of the video content shared across various platforms is one of the major concerns. At the same time, there are also concerns related to copyrights and digital rights mismanagement, which can arise due to the misuse of data and information leakage. To counter such challenges, enterprises need to restructure their strategies of deploying video technologies before use. The absence of suitable policies and procedures for identifying and managing video content can hamper market growth.

Market Players

The report includes the study of key players offering CDN market offering different CDN services. It profiles major vendors in the global CDN market. The major vendors include Akamai Technologies (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), IBM Corporation (US), Limelight Networks (US), Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) (US), Google (US), AT&T (US), Cloudflare, Inc. (US), Verizon Media (US), Lumen Technologies (US), Deutsche Telekom AG (Germany), QUANTIL (US), StackPath, LLC (US), Fastly (US), G-Core Labs S.A. (Luxembourg), OnApp Limited (UK), Broadpeak (France), Citrix Systems (US), NTT Communications Corporation (Japan), Comcast Technology Solutions (US), Tata Communications (India), Imperva (US), Rackspace Technology (US), Leaseweb (The Netherlands), and Alibaba Cloud (China). The study includes an in-depth competitive analysis of these key players in the CDN market with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.

Scope of Report

This research report categorizes the CDN market to forecast revenues and analyze trends in each of the following submarkets:

Based on Component, the CDN market has the following segments:

• Solutions
• Services

Based on Solutions, the market has the following segments:

• Web Performance Optimization
• Media Delivery
• Cloud Security

Based on Services, the CDN market has the following segments:

• Storage Services
• Analytics and Performance Monitoring
• Website and API management
• Network Optimization Services
• Support & Maintanance
• Others

Based on Content Type, the market has the following segments:

• Static Content
• Dynamic Content

Based on Provider Type, the CDN market has the following segments:

• Traditional CDN
• Telco CDN
• Cloud CDN
• P2P CDN
• Others

Based on Application, the market has the following segments:

• Media and Entertainment
• Online Gaming
• Retail and eCommerce
• eLearning
• Healthcare
• Enterprises

Based on regions, the CDN market has the following segments:

• North America
  • US
  • Canada
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • France
  • Rest of Europe
• APAC
  • China
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Rest of APAC
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Rest of Latin America
• MEA
  • Middle East
  • Africa 

Recent Developments:

• In October 2020, Amazon CloudFront launched Origin Shield, a centralized caching layer that helps increase cache hit ratio to reduce the load on the origin. Origin Shield decreases the origin operating costs by collapsing requests across regions, so as few as one request goes to the origin per object.
• In September 2020, Limelight Networks has enhanced its edge capabilities by launching EdgeFunctions, a new serverless compute service, which allows developers to tap into the power of the company’s global network and gives them the flexibility to deploy and run their code. EdgeFunctions provides a customizable environment at the network edge for streamlining content workflows, performing time-sensitive decisions, and customizing user experiences. Moreover, EdgeFunctions is suitable for streaming video and content delivery, such as personalized streaming, content protection, dynamic ad insertion, and image manipulation.
• In November 2019, IBM announced an extended partnership with VMware to accelerate hybrid cloud innovation and adoption across global enterprises. Through the updated technology offerings, IBM is making it easier for enterprises to securely move VMware workloads to the cloud and leverage open technologies to modernize their business operations.
• In Febuary 2019, Microsoft and Telecom Egypt collaborated to extend Microsoft’s cloud network to Egypt. Through the collaboration, Telecom Egypt has provided low-latency connectivity into and across Egypt to help enhance performance and increase reliability for customers of Microsoft services. The collaboration has also increases Microsoft’s reach to the large Egyptian market while improving connectivity across North Africa and the Middle East.
• In January 2019, Akamai has entered into an agreement to acquire Janrain, the company that pioneered the Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) category. Janrain enables enterprises to enhance digital trust and its integration with Akamai’s Intelligent Edge Platform, which is expected to provide world-class security, regulatory compliance, and massive scale to online engagements. The acquisition is expected to help Akamai's customers establish and maintain digital trust with its users by providing a highly secure and resilient environment for collecting and storing sensitive user information, managing privacy controls, defending against identity fraud, and improving engagement and brand loyalty.

Key Benefits of Buying the Report

The report would provide the market leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall CDN market and its subsegments. It would help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their business and plan suitable go-to-market strategies. It also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.