With the amount of video content available for streaming growing by leaps and bounds, it makes sense that the Web-enabled consumer electronics devices to watch them on are also flourishing, which is driven home by a recent report by In-Stat.
New over-the-top services, such as Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Blockbuster, and possibly Xbox, offer streamed or downloadable TV and movie content. Online TV programming portals, such as Hulu, TV.com and YouTube, have expanded into full-length video content. As a result, Web-enabled devices are now proliferating across device categories that include TVs, Blu-ray players, Digital Media Adapters (DMAs), network-attached storage and set-top boxes.
“Most Web-enabled CE devices will be sold in developed countries. Our research shows that within five years, nearly all broadband households will own at least one Web-enabled CE media device,” said In-Stat analyst Norm Bogen. “The implications of this across the digital entertainment industry will be huge.”
Recent research by In-Stat includes:
- Worldwide shipments of Web-enabled stationary CE devices will grow more than seven-fold from their 2009 levels to more than 230 million by 2013.
- There will be more than a half-billion Web-enabled CE devices in operation worldwide by 2013.
- In 2009, there were five broadband households worldwide for every Web-enabled CE device. By 2013, this ratio will be 2:1.
- Many cable operators worldwide are predicted to introduce BBC iPlayer-like OTT services for Catch Up and on-demand program viewing.
- In-Stat’s consumer survey indicates that more than half of U.S. consumers with network-connected Blu-ray DVD players/recorders use Wi-Fi, while 30 percent use Ethernet.
