Report: 500 million Web-enabled TVs by 2015
This year alone, around 25 percent of all flat-panel sets will come with Internet capabilities, and this trend is expected to grow to 47 percent by 2015, DisplaySearch says in report.
(Credit:
DisplaySearch)
TV makers are expected to ship more than 500 million sets with Internet connectivity by the end of 2015, according to a report from research firm DisplaySearch. This year alone, around 25 percent of all flat-panel sets will come with some form of Internet capability and this trend is expected to grow to 47 percent by 2015.
LG LW6500-series 3D smart TVs.
(Credit: LG)"The adoption of connected TV is not just taking place in developed regions," Paul Gray, DisplaySearch director of TV electronics research, in a statement. "Emerging markets often have good broadband services, and there is a thirst from consumers to get the best content available."
Propelling the market share of these Web-enabled TVs is the convenience of wireless networking through Wi-Fi and smart-TV functions. The latter is a generic description of panels with the following features, according to DisplaySearch:
- Capable of retrieving content from the Internet independent of a portal
- Built-in intelligent search and recommendations
- Can seamlessly connect with other devices in a home network
The company is also forecasting an encouraging 35 percent smart-TV market penetration in North America for 46-inch and larger models in four years.
Note that "smart TV" is a marketing term employed by LG, Samsung, and Philips to describe their smart TVs, while Sony has been using "Internet TV" instead.
(Source: Crave Asia)
