WHILE APPLICATIONS FOR smart phones and tablets are now widely embraced, the advent of ‘smart TVs’ has resulted in consumers adopting on-line TV applications that are integrated into their connected television sets.
According to a new research survey by In-Stat, shipments of connected TVs with integrated TV applications will grow by an average 36% over the next five years, and over 60% of these connected households will use a TV app at least once per week.
“As expected, Netflix and YouTube currently dominate the TV application space”, said research director Keith Nissen, in a news release. “But as Netflix competitors become more numerous and as applications are optimized for the big screen, TV apps will become part of the mainstream TV viewing experience.”
According to the report Q2’11 US Digital Entertainment Database:
– TV apps are not the primary reason for purchasing connected TVs;
– Adoption of on-line video streaming services, such as Netflix, does not increase the propensity to purchase on-line video content;
– The viewing of DVR-recorded TV programming does not lead to the adoption of free VOD services from a pay TV operator;
– 22% of U.S. broadband households already own an HDTV with integrated TV apps; and
– Consumers favouring subscriptions to both pay-TV and on-line video services rose from 18% to 30% during 2010, contributing to the continued growth of Netflix.
