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Published on Thursday, 03 November 2011 06:59
The number of TV sets connected to the Internet will reach 551 million
by 2016 for the 40 countries covered in a new report from Digital TV
Research, up from 124 million at end-2010. The Connected TV Forecasts
report states that this translates to 20% of global TV sets by 2016, up
from only 6% at end-2010.
Despite all of this rapid growth, only 8.9% of global TV sets will be
directly connected to the Internet by 2016 (the others will be connected
via other devices). However, this is up from a mere 1.4% at end-2010.
Proportions will vary considerably from one country to the next, with
South Korea the market leader in 2016 (boasting 15.0% penetration).
The gross proportion of TV households with a connected set will be 43%
by 2016, up from 11% in 2010. Report author Simon Murray explains:
"These are gross figures as it is possible that one TV
household can have several sets connected to the Internet. For example, a
TV household could own a connected TV set, and may also have a
connected fixed games console. This report identifies five different
ways by which a set can be connected to the Internet – and one form of
connection does not exclude the other forms."
There are several ways by which a TV set can be connected to the
Internet. The most popular at present is via the fixed games console
(Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox), which accounted for 79 million of the
end-2010 total.
However, sales of connected TV sets (with a built-in Ethernet connection
and, increasingly, widgets/applications) are taking off, especially as
retail prices are beginning to fall. Soon most sets on sale will have
the ability to connect to the Internet (though not all homes buying
these sets will hook up to the Internet).
There were 31 million installed connected TV sets by end-2010, and this
total will rocket to 244 million by 2016. The number of connected TV
sets will exceed the number of connected games consoles by end-2012.
Nearly a fifth of TV households will have a connected TV set by 2016, up
from only 2.6% at end-2010.
