Smart TVs will take more than half of the TV market by 2015

Uptake of connected TV is soaring and over half of new TVs will be smart TVs by 2015 with the proportion rising to two-thirds a year later, according to new research.

There was a sharp increase in the number of smart TV shipments last year with the total rising to 66 million, a 27% year-on-year increase. That represented a 27% market share of all new TV shipments.

By 2015, shipments will rise to 141 million, a 55% market share and marking the first time smart TVs account for over half of all new TVs.

The following year the total will be 173 million, almost two thirds of all new shipments.

The data and forecasts are contained within new research from IHS.

“Despite a decline in global television shipments in 2012, consumer demand for Internet-connected televisions soared during the year—and the surge in sales shows no signs of abating,” said Veronica Thayer, TV systems analyst at IHS. “Smart TVs are rapidly joining the mainstream as manufacturers refine their products to add new features and to make them easier to use.”