New streaming services like Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+ and Peacock – along with stalwarts like Netflix and Hulu – will cause a big jump in U.S. SVOD spending next year.
According to a Consumer Technology Association analysis, U.S. consumers will spend $21.9 billion on subscription streaming video services in 2020, representing a 24% increase over the $17.7 billion spent in 2019. With increased spending on services providing streaming content will also come increased spending on devices on which to watch the content.
CTA predicts there will be 20.7 million streaming media players sold in the U.S. in 2020, up 11% from 18.6 million in 2018. But despite efforts from pay TV equipment makers like TiVo and service providers like Comcast to create consolidated experiences for different streaming apps, that uptick in sales won’t likely include their devices. The study predicts sales of cable and satellite set-top-boxes and disc players will respectively decline by 9% and 13% from 2018 to 2020.
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However, sales of smart TVs will continue to rise in the U.S. CTA said it expects 29 million smart TVs will be sold in the U.S. in 2020, which will create $16 billion in revenue. It’s likely that Roku and Amazon stand to benefit a lot from this increase, considering their many smart TV operating system deals with manufacturers.
While CTA expects smart TVs to outsell other types of television sets in 2020, it also expects 4K compatible TVs to have a big year. The association said that 4K TVs will account for 50% of new TVs sold in the U.S. in 2020.