Nearly 600 million connected TV sets by 2017

The number of TV connections to the internet will reach 596 million by 2017, up from 105 million at the end of 2010 and the 212 million expected at the end of 2012, according to Digital TV Research’s Connected TV Forecasts report, which covers 40 countries.

The US contributed 48 million to the 2010 total (or 45% of the global total), and will grow to 78 million in 2012 (37%) and 147 million by 2017 (only 25% of the global total). China will have 93 million connected TVs by 2017, up from a mere two million at the end of 2010. Meanwhile, Japan will drop from second place in 2010 (13 million) to third in 2017 (43 million).

This global connected TV total translates to 21.4% of global TV sets by 2017, up from only 4.7% at the end of 2010 and 8.9% by the end of 2012. The US will have the highest penetration of TV sets by 2017 at 38.1%, closely followed by Norway (37.7%) and South Korea (37.2%).

Report author Simon Murray said: “There has been something of a backlash against smart TV sets over the last year as critics argue that similar – or even better – offers are available on tablets or even mobile smartphones. Critics complain that connected TV sets provide a clunky experience. Although this is a wake-up call for those involved in the sector, these deficiencies are likely to be addressed reasonably soon as connected TV becomes mainstream. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of online usage via connected TVs is TV-related.”