The Market for SmartTVs

by
January 19, 2015

From the latest Global Web Index report — Q3 2014 — more than one in three households with an internet connection now have a SmartTV. Unsurprisingly, the age range of 25-34 held the highest ownership rate at 42%, however income had a greater effect on SmartTV ownership than age. The top income quartile reported at 50% ownership rate. SmartTVs are no longer a trend, but something that has arrived.

As the graphic displays, the way people are using their SmartTVs is also evolving. On-demand services such Google Play was used by 39% of owners, Netflix ranked second with 27% and iTunes usage rates followed at 26%. Amazon Prime services were used by 17% of SmartTV owners and SoundCloud showed a 14% rate.

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Given the popularity of such streaming services — particularly among the highlighted 25-34 year-olds — the continued rise of SmartTVs working with more and more streaming options should come as no surprise.

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While there is not an official Twitch.TV app for various SmartTVs, there are options for watching YouTube streams listed here.

The second screen experience — something sporting events and video games excel at — is of particular note. Two out of three people told GWI they use a smartphone while watching TV, with one-third stating they use a tablet. A simple search at the time of writing of Twitter’s trending topics show 8/10 being related to sports, be it trades, scores, signings or other.

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It’s clear the market for SmartTVs is on the rise. Count on more programming, both on television and streaming services, being catered towards SmartTV owners. The full report can be found on GWI’s website here.





 

You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.

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srpst23
9 years ago

Are there really that many tv’s sold today that are not smart tv’s though? My 63 year old father has a smart tv now. Granted he didn’t know that it was a smart tv until I showed him some of the features, which he felt were completely redundant (I don’t disagree). He probably will never use any of the “smart” features of the TV. Would this study have counted him as a smart tv owner? If it does, then I would take the ownership rates, especially the older age brackets, with a huge grain of salt.

On a side note, what exactly is the need for a smart TV? Any even remotely tech savy person already has devices that perform the same tasks (and more) better than the TV can.

Another question is what bearing does “second screen” usage have on smart tv’s? Isn’t the tv the primary screen? I’m not going to suddenly watch a baseball game on my 7″ tablet, and look up stats on my tv.

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AC
9 years ago
Reply to  srpst23

I completely agree. I’m finally in the market for a new TV, and I don’t plan on skimping on size. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to find a ‘dumb’ TV larger than 55″. In the 55″ segment, there is some overlap, and the Smart TVs are at least 25% more expensive. If somebody would offer a 65-70″ screen without the wasted internet connectivity features that I already have covered in triplicate, I’d snap it up.
I’m squarely in the coverage gap in current hardware offerings, so nobody gets my money.

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David Wiersmember
9 years ago
Reply to  srpst23

I’m pretty squarely a PC Master Race guy, so having a SmartTV is somewhat nice, as I never intend on getting a PS4/XBox One etc. Of course, I can simply push from my PC to the TV via Chromecast.

My roommate has a One and several friends have Samsung SmartTVs. I haven’t been terribly impressed with either just yet, so while a SmartTV is a nice idea, it’s just an idea for me right now. I was more surprised to see the ownership rate as high as it is, though you bring up a good point as to how suspect these ownership rates are.

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cs3
9 years ago

Smart TVs seem like a complete waste of money. I would assume that at least 90% of flat screen TV owners also own either a game console or a blu ray player or both. Those devices are vastly superior to the internet connectivity options that smart TVs offers. Barring that, you can buy a $10 cable from Amazon to output your PC or laptop to your TV and then have actual internet available on the big sc
And any household that would consider intentionally purchasing a smart TV would already have multiple internet capable devices.
reen.

I can’t think of any scenario where paying a premium for a smart version of a TV makes sense.

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