Connected TV sales to reach 350m by 2015
Around 350 million internet-enabled television sets are expected to be sold worldwide by 2015, according to new research by Parks Associates.
The rise in connected TV devices is likely to prompt intense competition among app developers and technology companies such as Samsung, the Rapid TV News article says.
“The market has reached the fourth generation of connected TVs, and all major manufacturers are debuting new models at CES with innovations in content aggregation, apps development, and user interfaces,” said Kurt Scherf, VP, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
2011 has been dubbed the year of connected TV for some time, with the upcoming YouView launch and more and more IPTV sets expected to be hitting the shops over the next few months.
In November, Kantar Media’s futurePROOF study said connected TV will have a big impact on digital behaviour this year. However, the study also found that awareness of IPTV has still not reached mainstream levels, with less than half the population understanding the latest TV proposition.
Kantar said only 42% of the UK population are aware of connected TV, although the research shows that there has already been a significant shift in behaviour stimulated by the availability of on-demand services on the TV set.
At the time, Trevor Vagg, director of Kantar Media, said: “We see connected TV as a potential ‘game changer’ in how people are going to be watching TV. The ability to watch streamed online content is not a new concept for consumers but being able to view it on their high-spec TV screen rather than their laptop or tablet will be a no-brainer. Connected TV also has the possibility of really taking the internet into the living room and making it more of a shared experience.”
YouView, the venture backed by partners including the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, is expected to be the catalyst for connected TV. Speaking at MediaTel’s ‘The Internet Comes to TV’ event at the end of last year, Channel 4’s head of VoD & channel development Sarah Rose said YouView will be key for the connected TV market – both in terms of boosting public awareness and other on-demand services.