Installed Base of Internet Connected TVs and Attached Devices to Grow 51% by 2015

Port Washington, New York, June 6, 2013--By 2015 there will be an estimated 119 million connected devices, including the TV, delivering broadband Internet to TVs in U.S. homes, a 51 percent increase from the 78.5 million currently Internet connected today, according to a new report from global information company, The NPD Group.

The Connected Intelligence Connected Home Forecast Report estimates streaming media players will see the highest growth in installed units by 2015, followed by connected TVs, connected Blu-ray disc players, and connected video game consoles.

“The battle in living rooms across the U.S. isn’t only between people deciding what to watch, it’s between the devices vying to get content onto the screen,” said John Buffone, director of the device practice of Connected Intelligence. “Consumers have a lot of hardware options, on average 1.5 internet devices per connected TV. When it comes to watching streamed content, TV viewers have to choose between the unique set of applications, user interface, and other characteristics offered by each device.”

While connected video game consoles are projected to see the lowest percent growth in installed units, they will remain the primary device delivering Internet to the TV.  By 2015 the number of installed Internet connected video game consoles is projected to increase 22 percent as consumers begin to swap out their existing consoles for next generation consoles that rely heavily on connectivity.

NPD’s 2013 Online Gaming Study finds that connected game consoles are used for far more than gaming.  Among those using their consoles for gaming, the report quantified a variety of non-gaming activities.  The activity with the highest rating among PS3 users was watching a DVD (34 percent) followed by watching a Blu-ray disc (30 percent).  Users of the Xbox 360 utilize the device for watching You Tube (24 percent) and watching DVDs (23 percent), while Wii Users highest non-gaming activity was to stream a movie through Netflix (21 percent).

Source: The NPD Group/2013 Online Gaming Study

Connected Home Forecast Methodology

The Connected Home forecast is based on NPDs quarterly Connected Home surveys conducted among 4,000-5,000 U.S. consumers, age 18 and older.  Using the NPD Consumer and Retail Tracking services, historical installed base reporting is mapped to sales trends for each device category. Coupled with internet connection rates, these data are used to project a view of the connectable and connected device installed base.  The installed base projections within this release reflect only devices that have been connected to the Internet by consumers.

Online Gaming Methodology

An online survey was fielded from February 15, 2013 to March 4, 2013 to members of NPD’s online panel. The survey was completed by 8,867 individuals ages 2 and older. For children under the age of 16, respondents were contacted using a parental surrogate, with the parent being asked to bring the child to the computer to answer the survey questions. Gamers were defined as those who currently personally play games on at least one of the systems/devices measured in the report. Online Gamers were defined as those who personally play games online on at least one of the systems/devices measured.

About Connected Intelligence

Connected Intelligence provides competitive intelligence and insight on the rapidly evolving consumer’s connected environment. The service focuses on the three core components of the connected market: the device, the broadband access that provides the connectivity and the content that drives consumer behavior. These three pillars of the connected ecosystem are analyzed through a comprehensive review of what is available, adopted, and consumed by the customer, as well as reviewing how the market will evolve over time and what the various vendors can do to best position themselves in this evolving market. For more information: http://www.connected-intelligence.com. Follow Connected Intelligence on Twitter: @npdci.