Almost 1bn TV sets will be online by 2020
The world is becoming ever more connected, and it’s not going to slow down any time soon. According to a new report from the company Digital TV Research, the number of TV sets connected to the internet will reach 965 million by 2020 – up from 103m at the end of 2010 and the 339m expected by the end of 2014.
Covering 51 countries, the Connected TV Forecasts report estimates that the proportion of TV sets hooked up to the web will rise to 30.4 per cent by 2020, up from only 4.2 per cent at the end of 2010 and the 12.1 per cent expected by the end of 2014.
South Korea will have the highest proportion by 2020, with 52.7 per cent, followed by the UK (50.6 per cent), Japan (48.6 per cent) and the US (47 per cent).
The report says that from the 698m additional TV sets connected to the internet between 2013 and 2020, China will supply 160m, followed by the US (92m) and India (75m).
The most popular way to get a TV online is with a games console, which the report says accounted for 51 per cent of the 2010 total.
The number of connected games consoles will rise to 202 million by 2020, double the 2013 total. The US will provide 50m of the 2020 total, followed by China (22m) and Japan (18m).
However, the research shows that the number of installed Smart TVs overtook games consoles connected to the web in 2013.
Smart TV sets are forecast to account for 36 per cent of the 2020 total connected sets, with 346m – of which 56m will be in the US and 74m in China.
Connections via streaming devices such as Chromecast will account for 183 million units by 2020, says Digital TV Research.
