Fire TV has high penetration in Germany but falls behind on usage

Amazon Fire TV is more widespread in Germany than Magenta TV and Android TV – but falls behind in actual use

HAMBURG — The open HbbTV standard, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung Tizen are most often found in Germans’ living rooms. However, when looking at actual usage, the importance of the TV platforms of Telekom, Vodafone and Sky is already apparent. Meanwhile, the hot potato of the future is the Comcast subsidiary Metrological. These are the findings of the updated reach study by TeraVolt GmbH, which the Hamburg-based company conducted with the support of a twelve-member expert panel and the Facit market research institute.

Platforms in the ranking according to technical reach and usage in Germany 2020 and 2023

While Amazon Fire TV (4.3 million households) has the third-highest reach behind HbbTV (15.3 million) and Tizen (9 million), it falls behind Magenta TV (Deutsche Telekom), Metrological, Foxxum, and Android TV in terms of actual usage. In particular, Metrological, whose solutions are trusted by Sky and Vodafone, is likely to play a significant role in the German TV market.

TeraVolt, for example, forecasts that Metrological will increase its reach by 31 percent annually and climb to second place in terms of actual usage. As a result, Samsung’s Tizen is slipping to fourth place, while HbbTV remains the undisputed number one.

TV apps are so relevant because people’s usage behavior is constantly changing. Streaming services and TV media libraries are leading to a de-linearization that will intensify in the coming years.

Technical reach and growth rates of TV app platforms in Germany 2020

“Vodafone and Sky, as well as Tele Columbus already rely on Metrological’s App Store. The Comcast subsidiary will therefore grow into one of the most important platforms for TV apps in Germany and could even become more important than Tizen and Amazon Fire TV,” says Tobias Künkel Managing Partner at TeraVolt, who also attributes a lot of power to Amazon, however: “Amazon is now present with its app-enabled devices in more living rooms than Telekom, Vodafone, Sky or Google. With its prime offer, Amazon offers a product that enables direct identification, data acquisition, and customer billing. These are important factors for long-term success and customer loyalty.

Background information: Last year, TeraVolt had already investigated in the first version of its reach study how many German households Amazon Fire TV, HbbTV, and Co. With the update of the study, this reach should now be put in relation to the viewers’ actual usage.