DUXBURY, MA -- May 30, 2007 -- Wainhouse Research, a market research and consulting company specializing in the videoconferencing and unified communications space, has published its first market size forecast for the telepresence industry. The report follows the firm's recent release of a 66-page market study on telepresence technologies, vendors, and solutions. The market forecast concludes that with the highly touted entry of major enterprise suppliers such as HP and Cisco, and with the recent entry of videoconferencing industry leaders Polycom and Tandberg to the space, the telepresence market is likely to grow at well over 100% per year for the next four years. Nevertheless, even with telepresence services included in the calculations, Wainhouse Research concludes the telepresence market is unlikely to reach $1 billion by the year 2011.

Comments Andrew W. Davis, managing partner at Wainhouse Research, and one of the two authors of the study, "True telepresence, where a videoconferencing system and the environment create the illusion that the remote participants are in the same room with you, is an expensive proposition that will limit these systems to a very high end market niche. We don't see the industry growing to more than 2,000 units a year. Nevertheless, some companies will find telepresence useful in some situations, while most customers will opt for a more traditional videoconferencing approach."

Adds Ira Weinstein, senior analyst and partner at Wainhouse Research, and co-author of the study, "As shown in our forecast, we believe that a reasonable number of enterprises will appreciate the telepresence experience enough to invest in these technologies. However, it is unlikely that these offerings will become mainstream for the typical organization. Perhaps the greatest impact of telepresence is that it's fueling additional demand for traditional videoconferencing solutions and integrated meeting environments."

The telepresence forecast document is available FREE to subscribers on the company's PLATINUM content web site (www.wrplatinum.com) or separately for $1,000.

The full market segment report "Telepresence 2007" is also available free to PLATINUM subscribers or separately for $2,495. Additional information, including a summary and table of contents, is also available at http://www.wainhouse.com/reports/index.html#tp07.

About Wainhouse Research

Wainhouse Research (www.wainhouse.com) provides strategic guidance and insight on products & services for Real-Time Unified Communications. The global client base includes established and new technology suppliers and service providers as well as enterprise users of voice, video, streaming, and web collaboration solutions.

[via Wainhouse Research]