Google has revealed that its Chromecast platform has now been used to stream content more than one billion times.
The stat was made public during its Q4 earnings call; the milestone having been reached last week. Chromecast was introduced in mid-2013. The HDMI dongle is plugged into TV sets to add streaming capability by mirroring content from mobiles and tablets. It is typically sold for around £30 by UK retailers, and EUR35 across Europe, but has been seen at much lower pricepoints.
It was also revealed that Google is now the most popular streaming device sold in the United States, according to NPD Retail Tracking.
Google’s YouTube now has more than one billion users. “Everyday people watch hundreds of millions of hours of video on YouTube, generating billions of views. Watch time is up 50% year-over-year. We continue to invest in our YouTube Partners and Partner revenue has increased by more than 50% year-over-year. We are seeing great momentum in mobile advertising on YouTube. Mobile revenue on YouTube is up more than 100% year-over-year,” said Patrick Pichette, CFO and SVP, Google, during a conference call.
“I’m excited about Google Play’s development. Movies are now available in more than the 102 countries, music in 58, and books in 65. It’s growing internationally at unprecedented speed. In December, we partnered with Sony to digitally release The interview. It has been publicly reported that the film generated over $15 million in its first weekend, and that Google Play and YouTube drove the majority of those sales.
“We launched YouTube music key beta a monthly music subscription service that provides ad free music, background play, and offline viewing. This will also include a subscription to Google Play Music with more than 30 million songs, expert queue rated play lists, and more.”
