There are now over half a billion connected television devices worldwide, including smart televisions, network-enabled blu-ray players, games consoles and digital media streamers. Smart televisions have overtaken games consoles as the leading connected television device. The main consumer electronics companies dominate, led by Sony.
Strategy Analytics estimates that 16 technology brands account for 90% of connected television devices in use.
One in four connected television devices installed in homes around the world is a Sony branded product, with a total of 123.8 million, up from 96.8 million a year previously.
Samsung accounts for one in eight devices, with 62.3 million, up from 34.4 million a year previously.
Nintendo and Microsoft account for 56.8 million and 55.4 million respectively, with Nintendo remaining ahead in market share although its installed base actually fell over the year.
LG and Panasonic have 32.2 million and 29.9 million, while Sharp, Toshiba and Philips have around 34.9 million between them.
Apple TV remains the leading digital media streamer, with an estimated 18.7 million devices, although its market share has fallen in the face of competition.
Roku has around 8.3 million devices deployed, while Google Chromecast has around 6.0 million, according to the report.
| Company | Annual change m |
Installed base m |
|---|---|---|
| Sony | 27.0 | 123.8 |
| Samsung | 27.9 | 62.3 |
| Nintendo | -10.7 | 56.8 |
| Microsoft | 1.6 | 55.4 |
| LG | 16.2 | 32.2 |
| Panasonic | 10.3 | 29.9 |
| Apple | 5.7 | 18.7 |
| Sharp | 5.2 | 15.0 |
| Toshiba | 5.1 | 10.2 |
| Philips | 4.0 | 9.7 |
“Connected TV Devices fulfil a growing consumer desire to access OTT content on the big screen in the home,” said David Watkins of Strategy Analytics. “While game console vendors and the major TV brands have the largest footprint of such devices, major IT and internet brands such as Apple, Google and Amazon are starting to build up a significant base of lower cost media streaming boxes and dongles from which they can tap into the online TV audience to advance their own living room strategy.”
Yet the growth of connected devices from traditional consumer electronics companies is significant. Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Philips added 95.7 million devices in a year, while Apple added 5.7 million and Roku added 2.8 million and Google added 6.0 million.
Global Connected TV Device Tracker: Q2 2014 is published by Strategy Analytics.