Google's Chromecast now owns 35% of the global OTT device market

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chromecast has assumed 35 percent share of the global OTT device market, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

This is relevant news to pay-TV operators, a number of which have partnered with Chromecast rival Roku to distribute IP-only versions of their pay-TV services. 

To a degree, it also proves a point argued by operators, as they contest the FCC's decision to rewrite regulation governing proprietary leased set-tops, making the ability to manufacture pay-TV set-tops more open to third-party manufacturers like Google. With virtually every operator making multiscreen apps for Chromecast, Google is already very much involved in the pay-TV market as a third-party maker of "set-top" devices.

According to Strategy Analytics, Google has shipped around 27 million Chromecast dongles since the device was first introduced in 2013. This level of penetration trails Apple TV, which has shipped 37 million boxes, but has been in the market significantly longer.

Roku is in third place, having shipped around 20 million streaming boxes and sticks. Amazon's Fire TV platform ranks fourth, shipping around 10 million units. 

Strategy Analytics said there are around 220 million connected TVs worldwide, increasing by a factor of about 84 million last year. Smart TVs accounted for about 54 percent of connected device shipments last year. (Of course, actual usage of these smart TV connected features by consumers is another matter.) 

For more:
- read this Strategy Analytics report

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