A new report by market researchers Frost & Sullivan on the global non-linear editing market makes some interesting points and raises some interesting questions.

[The report] observes the NLE market through the lenses of the broadcast, post-production, and professionals segments during 2013–2020

The headline: Product Affordability Drives Sales of Pro-Video Non-Linear Editing Solutions Worldwide 

Here are some of their highlights:

• With a steady pricing decrease since 2003, the professional editing solutions market opened up to a large number of users across all segments. Eventually, the availability of products at $1000 created a large user base of individual professionals who typically owned small boutique studios or small production houses.
• The downward price spiral, the intensifying competition, and the slow growth in sales in the broadcast and post-production segments are challenges to the growth of high-margin, high-end NLE products.
• The NLE market is preparing itself for innovation around cloud-based solutions, which are likely to challenge the adoption of off-the-shelf products.
• The fast-growing and highly fragmented consumer devices market makes multi-platform content delivery a key requirement driving growth in the broadcast segment. In the post-production segment, adoption of solutions that help in increasing operational efficiency and reducing bottom- line while turning around content quickly is key.  
• The main vendors in this space are Adobe, Apple, Quantel, Avid, and Grass Valley. Long-term growth in the pro-video segments (broadcast and post-production) is expected to be determined by a vendor’s ability to innovate, provide constant upgrades, and create an easy yet holistic ecosystem around the editing products. The ability to integrate into collaborative workflows and ensure interoperability will also be critical.

In return for your contact information, you can download a preview of the report from the Frost & Sullivan site.

According to the preview, a couple of questions the full report answers are:

• Are the existing competitors correctly structured to meet customer needs? Will competing companies and products continue to exist or will they be acquired by other companies? Will these products become features in other markets? 
• What technical trends, including cloud technologies, are shaping the marketplace? What trends are on the horizon, and what does this mean for future product strategy? 
• How will the pro-video segments, such as broadcast and post-production, compare with the professionals segment that largely comprises individual video creators?

For those of us who can’t justify buying these kinds of reports, perhaps discussing these questions might be useful. For example, how good are Apple, Adobe, Avid, Grass Valley and Quantel at

• Innovation
• Providing constant upgrades
• Creating an easy yet holistic NLE ecosystem
• Integration into collaborative workflows
• Interoperability