Connected TV device ownership hits half a billion

Global ownership of connected TV devices – including smart TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles and digital media streamers – reached 500 million units in Q2 2014, according to StrategyAnalytics.

The research firm said that the half billion milestone marks a 34% increase compared to the same period in 2013, and a 7% rise quarter-over-quarter, with demand for connected TV devices creating a “highly competitive market.”

According to the Global Connected TV Device Tracker: Q2 2014 report, 16 major technology brands accounting for 90% of connected TV devices. Some 24.8% of these devices globally was a Sony-branded product, while Sony, Samsung, Nintendo and Microsoft – the top four vendors – collectively accounted for 60% of the devices.

Among digital media streamers alone, Apple remained the leading brand, though its share dropped to under 30% for the first time in the face of competition from Google’s Chromecast, Amazon’s Fire TV and Roku.

Apple’s total market share of the global connected TV device installed base was 3.8%, compared to 1.7% for Roku and 1.2% for Google.

Samsung experienced the highest unit increase in the quarter at 80.9% year-on-year, while Google’s connected TV device footprint grew faster than any other brand from Q1 to Q2 2014.

“Game Consoles were until very recently the dominant connected TV device installed in the living room. However, Q2 2014 marked the first time that there are more smart TVs installed in homes globally than IP-enabled game consoles and smart TVs will now move on to become the dominant connected TV device in the living room in terms of ownership,” said Eric Smith, Strategy Analytics analyst, connected home devices.