138M connected TVs forecast to ship in 2015 as global demand grows rapidly

New research from DisplaySearch's Quarterly TV Design and Features Report forecasts connected TV shipments will exceed 138 million units annually by 2015 and will account for 47 percent of all flat-panel TVs shipped that year. The report also predicts that by the end of 2015, half a billion connected TV units will have shipped to-date.

In addition, DisplaySearch said the demand for Internet-ready TVs is global, with rapid uptake expected in all regions.

"The adoption of connected TV is not just taking place in developed regions," said DisplaySearch Director of TV Electronics Research Paul Gray. "Emerging markets often have good broadband services, and there is a thirst from consumers to get the best content available."

The increasing availability of OTT services like Netflix and Hulu are fueling that demand, as consumers increasingly look to the Internet for their entertainment.

Altman Vilandrie & Co. Director Jonathan Hurd told FierceOnlineVideo that CE manufacturers make connectivity a standard feature on TVs. This results, he said, in more data points for advertisers, programmers and service operators.

"It almost certainly will be able to supply more data points than a traditional Nielsen sample, for example," Hurd said. "Just as cable created the opportunity for a lot more channels than could be broadcast in the available spectrum, we now have this other new infrastructure that's creating the opportunity for a lot more channels, and it's bi-directional and interactive, so it also adds in the on-demand, what I want to see, when I want to see it."

DisplaySearch, meanwhile, said it expects to see about 25 percent of all connected TVs shipped this year to be Internet ready.

For more:
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