June 22, 2022
Whether it’s Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Jason Statham or The Kardashians, the internet has given us unlimited access to our favourite music, videos and TV shows for well over decade via our laptops, smartphones and tablets.
The biggest screen in our homes, the humble television, was somewhat left behind by the internet revolution. Until very recently most of us connected our TVs to an aerial or satellite dish to watch linear TV channels.
Upgrade lag
We like to hold on to our TVs much longer than our phones and computers. Typically waiting seven to eight years before upgrading our TVs compared to 2-4 years to upgrade our phones and 4-6 years tablets and laptops.* So it’s taken much longer to get new smart TVs into our homes than for our other connected devices.
In the last few years however, our adoption of smart TVs and set top boxes that connect to the internet has rocketed, driven by increased availability of low-cost, high-speed broadband and increasing demand for video on demand (VoD) services such asNetflix and Disney+.
Smart TV Ownership Explosion
Buy a new TV today and it will more than likely be smart; sales of smart TVs grew by 7.4% in 2020 to reach 186 million units, accounting for 79% of all flat panel TVs sold globally.
Strategy Analytics estimates that 70% of European households will own a smart TV by the end of the year. Use of smart TVs in the USA is higher still, with 80% of North Americans having a smart TV or set top box. This was helped in part by US government stimulus cheques that helped increase spending on home entertainment products as consumers spent more time at home during the pandemic.
Strategy Analytics predicts that 90% of US households will have a amart TV by the end of 2024 and more than half (51%) of all households worldwide will own a smart TV by 2026 - that's 1.1 billion homes.
TV OS
Just as smartphones run on iOS and Android, smart TVs and connected set top boxes now run on ever more sophisticated and intuitive operating systems from a range of TV and technology brands, each providing app-based content streaming services.
The largest Korean TV manufacturers have their own dedicated smart TV operating systems, Samsung with Tizen and LG with WebOS, while smart TVs from other manufactures including Sony, TCL and HiSense run Google’s Android TV and Google TV (previously known as Chromecast) platforms.
Other players such as Amazon with Fire TV, ROKU and Sky with Sky Q, Now TV and Sky Glass all provide internet connected set top boxes running on their own OS and have each recently introduced TVs running on their respective operating systems.
Changing viewing habits
Smart TVs are fundamentally changing the way we use our TVs to consume content. Having unlimited access to content services through TV apps such asNetflix, Amazon Prime Video and iPlayer means many more of us are switching from linear TV channels to video on demand - watching the content we want when we want.
The content we consume on our TVs is no longer limited to linear TV shows, news, sport and movies. Just as the smartphone heralded the app revolution in 2011 with the launch of Apple’s App Store, smart TVs are bringing the power of app-based entertainment services into people’s homes. TV apps focused on news, sport, music, weather, sport, education, home fitness, cooking, smart home and a plethora of other areas are being introduced to revolutionise how we interact with, use and enjoy our TVs at home. The smart TV revolution is here!
* YouGov poll: 2137 UK internet users: May 2020.
** Strategy Analytics: Connected Home Devices service: July 2021.