It remains very uncertain that the programming production and distribution pipeline will have the goods by then, but Strategy Analytics says that nearly half of U.S. living rooms will have 4K/Ultra HD TV sets by 2020.
The research firm says shipments of 4K/UHD sets grew 633 percent in 2014 to 12.1 million units. Shipments to Asia accounted for 75 percent of that total, but both North America (12 percent) and Western Europe (11 percent) are driving increased market shares.
Strategy Analytics expects shipments to more than double to 27.1 million in 2015 and reach 100 million by 2018.
The firm expects the steepest growth to occur in North America, where only around 1 percent of displays were 4K/UHD in 2014 (see chart).
Of course, just because 4K sets will be standard fare in the AV section of Best Buy doesn't mean programming will be ubiquitous. Programming conglomerates including Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Sony Pictures have recently committed to increasing the amount of content shot in 4K/UHD, but the amount of available programming in the super-high-resolution format remains small.
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(Source: Strategy Analytics) |
For more:
- read this press release
Related links:
UHD Alliance coalition already has internal friction, post-CES report reveals
TiVo's Denney on the challenges of interfaces and 4K, and the future of cableCARD
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