High definition television (HDTV) is predicted to hit 15.5 million households worldwide by the end of 2005, with penetration forecast to reach 52 million by 2009, according to market research firm, In-Stat.
According to the company’s new report,
Got HD? High-Def TV Service Now In Over 10 Million Homes, there are currently 10 million homes globally watching HDTV programming on a high definition television set, 4 million of those in the US.
Commenting on the research, Mike Paxton, senior In-Stat analyst said: “Even with the rise in the number of HDTV households, there are still several market challenges slowing the spread of HDTV service.”
He continued: “Foremost among these challenges are; the need for more HDTV content, continuing the education of the public about the benefits of HDTV, and widening the geographic availability of HDTV services, especially in Europe.”
At the end of 2004, Sony predicted that penetration of HDTV would be four times greater in Europe than previous industry forecasts. Chris Deering, European president of Sony said that, by 2009, 20 million European households would have HDTV (see Sony Sees Vast Expansion For HDTV).
Previous predictions for HDTV penetration in the US, from Strategy Analytics, estimated that there would be 37 million HD enabled sets in US homes by the end of 2008, the firm also expects that half of this figure will be receiving high-definition programming from cable, satellite and terrestrial providers (see HDTV To Reach 37 Million US Homes By 2008).
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