Connected TVs play catch up

By the end of 2010, nearly 55% of all TV households in the Americas will have access to internet video, with 25% of these capable of displaying internet video onto the TV set, according to research by IMS.

“Now that retailers are actively marketing internet-enabled devices, we can expect to see mass market adoption,” said Rebecca Kurlak, an IMS Research consumer electronics analyst,in a statement. “As Blu-ray players have begun to offer price points that fall below $199, this price reduction will create a domino effect on other CE device prices. This has already been observed by actions taken by the game console market in Q3 2009.”

“We currently estimate that by the end of 2010, 35% of TV shipments in the Americas will have internet connectivity built-in. It will take about five years for the gap to close between connected TVs and other devices. Consumers continue to select devices that offer ease of use, and it just makes it easier for the consumer to seamlessly search for content on one device. Plus, there is no additional set up involved, which continues to be a hurdle for many of the devices on the market.”

“Of course, game consoles already have the lead in this segment, which can mostly be attributed to gamer demographics. And, it’s great that game console manufacturers have continued to evolve their position in this space. But, it will become more of a necessity that they continue to re-invent their value adds. I think that even gamers will switch to accessing internet video mostly on the TV in order to have a one-stop access point to the different content libraries. Having one programme guide is much easier to navigate then searching independently on different devices.”