Flash video is everywhere, right? Not so fast. TechCrunch offers a different view of Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics. While the Flash player is everywhere except mobile devices, more video is encoded in H.264 than in Flash, a stunning trend change. Encoding.com’s Jeff Malkin:
In the past four quarters, the H.264 format went from 31 percent of all videos to 66 percent, and is now the largest format by far. Meanwhile, Flash is represented by Flash VP6 and FLV, which combined represent only 26 percent of all videos. That is down from a combined total of 69 percent four quarters ago. So the native Flash codecs and H.264 have completely flipped in terms of market share.
Flash players play H.264 video which is playable by other players, too. Flash player isn’t necessary.