CE device shipments will surpass 92 million in 2016

New research released from NPD In-Stat forecasts that consumer electronic (CE) “smart” device unit shipments will surpass 92 million in 2016.

NPD states that this supports the apparent relentless march of CE devices evolving from specialised electronic devices to multipurpose, networked computing devices, which is having a profound effect on the digital multimedia home.

Norm Bogen, VP Research at In-Stat comments: “CE vendors fundamentally agree that, increasingly, consumers are becoming technically savvy, and as a result are fully capable of using devices that are far more advanced than say, the traditional pay-TV STB.

“In fact, they are not only capable of using smart devices, but consumers are eager to own smart devices that will afford them more freedom to access content outside the walled gardens of the pay-TV service providers, including content that is now widely available on the Web.

“As a result, CE manufacturers see a tremendous opportunity in filling the gap between what pay-TV service providers currently provide and what consumers are capable of utilizing.

“If CE manufacturers are somehow able to substitute their own devices as an alternative to current STBs to enable the connected or smart digital home, they may be able to wrest some of the revenue opportunity away from pay-TV service providers.

“However, in an attempt to minimize the potential impact this could have on their customers and revenue stream, pay-TV service providers have begun to develop and deploy their own ‘smart’ STBs.”

Other recent findings, taken from NPD In-Stat’s The Global Market for Connected and Smart CE Devices report, include the following:

• Unit shipments of smart CE devices will surpass 92 million in 2016.
• North America will see unit shipments of smart STBs reach 3.2 million in 2015.
• Video game consoles will lead the market in smart devices rising to 36.7 million units in 2016.
• Total media devices shipped to Eastern Europe will reach 79.2 million devices in 2016.
• Asia Pacific will account for 37.1% of CE devices shipped worldwide over the forecast period.