Growth in Connected TV's will lead TV-viewing revolution

Posted by Gianluigi Cuccureddu SMP in Breaking News on October 07, 2010  |  0 Comments More from this author  |    |  Follow Gianluigi Cuccureddu SMP on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter |

eMarketer reports that two forecasters project global dramatic growth in the sales of internet-enabled television sets.

iSuppli Corporation:

Estimated in July that 28 million web-enabled TVs would be sold worldwide this year, more than double sales in 2009. By 2014 the firm forecasts a 428.6% increase to 148 million units sold.

DisplaySearch:

Released a higher estimate of sales for 2010, at 45 million units worldwide, and a more conservative projection for 2014, of 119 million. This still predicts triple-digit growth over the period, of 164.4%.

Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst, said:

“Nearly a quarter of US internet users have already connected their TVs to the internet and another quarter would like to.

That means that if the number of people who wish to connect their TVs did so, the universe of web-enabled TV would be approximately 108 million viewers, using eMarketer’s estimate of 221 million US internet users in 2010.

This spells a huge opportunity for consumer electronics manufacturers to deliver this connectability in easy-to-use, affordable ways, whether through TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, game consoles or any combination of the above.”

The latter is important, consumer behavior is changing and the all game-changing device that support this behavior has yet to prove itself.

In terms of market and reach, a quarter of US internet users already connected their TV's to the Web means a serious channels for content providers and other tV industry players.
It certainly is not a niche anymore (in terms of usage), but an fast evolving segment which will set the new standard.

The challenge lies with the revenue opportunities, right now a niche in absolute figures but the challenge for industry players.