There will be approaching a billion television sets connected to the internet by 2020, up from just over a 100 million at the end of 2010 and over a third of a billion at the end of 2014. By the end of the decade, Digital TV Research forecasts that three out of ten television sets will be connected to the internet, with around half of those in the United Kingdom and the United States being connected. Nearly half of television households worldwide will be watching some form of online television or video, with around 200 million homes subscribing to an online video on demand package.
Of nearly 700 million additional television sets connected to the internet between 2013 and 2020, China will provide 160 million, followed by the United States with 92 million and India with a forecast 75 million.
Network connected games consoles initially provided the main means of connecting televisions to the internet, but the number of installed smart television sets overtook games consoles connected to the internet in 2013.
Smart televisions will account for over a third of connected television sets by the end of the decade, rising from just under 100 million in 2013 to a total of 346 million in 2020. China will add 65 million smart televisions, with the United States gaining 27 million and India 29 million.
The number of televisions connected via media streaming devices and dongles is forecast to reach 183 million in 2020, up from 36 million by the end of 2014.
Over 700 million homes, or nearly half of all television households, will watch television and video over fixed broadband networks in 2020, up from under 200 million in 2010 and around 375 million at the end of 2014.
There will be nearly 200 million subscribers to online video on demand services in 2020, up from around 20 million in 2010 and an expected 83 million by the end of 2014. By then, around half of households in the United States will subscribe to such a service, with over 60 million customers. Over a third of households in ten countries will subscribe to online video by 2020.
The Connected TV Forecasts and Global Online TV & Video Household Forecasts reports are available from Digital TV Research.