Smart CE Device Unit Shipments to Surpass 92 Million in 2016

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The relentless march toward digital media technology has driven the evolution of consumer electronics from specialized electronic devices to multipurpose, networked computing devices. The advent of “smart CE devices” is having a profound effect on the digital multimedia home. New NPD In-Stat research forecasts that smart CE device unit shipments will surpass 92 million in 2016.

“CE vendors fundamentally agree that, increasingly, consumers are becoming technically savvy, and as a result are fully capable of using devices that are far more advanced than say, the traditional pay-TV STB,” says Norm Bogen, VP Research. “In fact, they are not only capable of using smart devices, but consumers are eager to own smart devices that will afford them more freedom to access content outside the walled gardens of the pay-TV service providers, including content that is now widely available on the Web. As a result, CE manufacturers see a tremendous opportunity in filling the gap between what pay-TV service providers currently provide and what consumers are capable of utilizing. If CE manufacturers are somehow able to substitute their own devices as an alternative to current STBs to enable the connected or smart digital home, they may be able to wrest some of the revenue opportunity away from pay-TV service providers. However, in an attempt to minimize the potential impact this could have on their customers and revenue stream, pay-TV service providers have begun to develop and deploy their own ‘smart’ STBs.”

Recent findings include the following:

  • Unit shipmentsof smart CE devices will surpass 92 million in 2016.
  • North America will see unit shipments of smart STBs reach 3.2 million in 2015.
  • Video game consoles will lead the market in smart devices rising to 36.7 million units in 2016.
  • Total media devices shipped to Eastern Europe will reach 79.2 million devices in 2016.
  • Asia Pacific will account for 37.1% of CE devices shipped worldwide over the forecast period.

Recent In-Stat research, The Global Market for Connected and Smart CE Devices (#IN1204884RC), forecasts the market through 2016 for connected devices in six regions: North America, Caribbean and Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. This report also includes a forecast of smart devices, a subset of connected devices that have the ability to access content from outside a controlled, walled garden. Smart devices are also forecast through 2016 in the same six regions and for the same CE devices. Forecasts are for shipments and installed base by device and by region.

The consumer electronic devices included in this forecast:

  • All types of digital set top boxes
  • Digital video recorders
  • Blu-ray players/recorders
  • Video game consoles
  • Streaming media players

This research is part of In-Stat’s Connected Digital Home service, which provides comprehensive analysis and forecasts of the worldwide connected digital home and home networking market, including infrastructure, networked media devices, features, semiconductors, applications, and consumer perspectives.