UK Smart TV sales could hit £2.5bn this Christmas
A new YouGov study puts Smart TV sales on the rise in the run up to Christmas and into the new year.
YouGov polls have found over half (55%) of Brits have hooked their screens up to the internet, be that through Smart TV functionality or by connecting to a laptop, tablet or web connected home cinema device.
A further study has found that 11% of Brits also intend to buy a Smart TV within the next year, at a price somewhere between £440 and £550.
The study is based on population figures from the ONS, hypothesising that if the 11% of Britons aged 16+ (5.76 million) purchased a 32 inch Smart TV costing the lower average £440 in the next year, it would equate to almost £2.54 billion in sales.
“The good news for Smart TV manufacturers is that there is a huge appetite for accessing internet services on TV sets, whether that be on demand TV, radio, news apps, or video calling services like Skype,” said Dan Brilot, YouGov Media Consulting Director.
“The bad news is that there are a lot of competing technologies out there that can be confusing to the consumer. However, our research indicates that the Smart TV industry is starting to do a better job at communicating why their ‘cutting out the middleman’ device is the best choice in such a fractured market.”
According to Brilot, manufacturers and retailers hoping to sell Smart TVs this penny-pinching Christmas need to keep prices as low as possible.
“The message for manufacturers and retailers is clear: If they can set the right price the revenue potential in the short and mid-term from Smart TVs is huge, particularly as we enter the Christmas shopping period. The other big advantage consumers should be made aware of is the potential for new apps. People love getting new apps for their Smart phones, so they need to know that they can also continually load new apps onto their Smart TV,” said Brilot
