IP multimedia subsystem as a next-generation architectural concept has generated as much confusion as it has hype, but a study from Venture Development Corp. may provide some clarification on the former and some validation for the latter. VDC, whose IMS research is ongoing, just released a research summary outlining the key product segments where IMS will have the most impact and suggesting that the sum of these market parts will amount to a $1.2 billion business opportunity next year.

The study, “IP Multimedia Subsystems For Wireline and Wireless Applications,” also forecasts that the market for IMS-related infrastructure and equipment will surpass $2.6 billion by 2008.

The research also identified key IMS product areas, including application servers, home subscriber servers, softswitches with IMS components and functionality, and media servers supporting media resource functions.

“The market for IMS products is very real and emerging rapidly,” said Chad Hart, director of VDC's Telecom/Datacom Practice. “While this is an ideal situation for IMS vendors, this will be a difficult market to capture for the next few years. IMS products have a long way to go, and it will take time before carriers accept the IMS business case.”

More new research is starting to feed the hunger for specific IMS information. Another firm, inCode Wireless, released a report late last week assessing current and upcoming IMS deployments