UPDATED 12:00 EDT / JUNE 22 2012

How Smart is Your TV? Connected Tubes Takeover

Global TV shipments have fallen by eight percent in the first quarter of 2012. For the first time in history, LCD TV shipments have slipped 3 percent year-over-year.

According to research firm DisplaySearch’s latest Advanced Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, overall global shipments of TV in Q1 of 2012 declined eight percent year-over-year to 51 million units.

“Soft demand and cautious expectations about the upcoming year in many parts of the TV supply chain have led to a slowdown in shipments,” noted Paul Gagnon, NPD DisplaySearch Director of North America TV Research. Gagnon added, “Key component prices, such as LCD panels, are not expected to decline much in 2012, and many brands are concentrating on improving their bottom line. Both of these trends will contribute to slowing unit volume among a price conscious consumer market.”

While reduction in shipments for LCD TVs is the main reason for the decline of TV sales, market share for LCDs increased in comparison to Plasma, CRT, and others.

Samsung is surviving, continuing to increase its year-over-year share of revenue from the sales of flat panel TVs. The company is now in second place with a shipment of 1.16 million on the US market in 2012.  Leading the US consumer electronics market is Vizio, with 1.21 million flat panels shipped to the US, according to report from analysts at IHS iSuppli.

The rise of digital TVs

Digital TVs are gaining momentum worldwide, particularly in Asia Pacific regions, and with it come some advantages. The analog broadcast signal is now technically obsolete and the new digital TV improves picture and sound quality of broadcasts.

In addition, Smart TVs are growing rapidly in emerging markets. According to the May 2012 Cisco Systems report, “Visual Networking Index: Service Adoption Forecast, 2011-2016,” global digital TV shipments will reach in 61 percent of homes around the world. Part of the growth will be fueled by countries (such as India) switching from analog broadcast to digital.

Asia Pacific will add another 663 million digital TVs by 2016, accounting for 58 percent of total households in the region, compared to just 289 million TVs in 2011.

The report says, “the benefits for Asia-Pacific consumers, and marketers, don’t stop at clearer picture and sound. The added bandwidth lets broadcasters split their programs across many channels in the same slice of spectrum, allowing for more programming and marketing opportunities. The potential long tail could allow for more ad inventory for marketers, as well as more targeted, niche and local programming.”

The future: smart and connected

Internet-enabled TV sets are considered the future of television. Smart TVs are bringing together modern TV sets, television and the Internet. You can integrate wirelessly over Wi-Fi or via a network cable into the home network and provide additional online information about the current TV program.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, the North American Digital Television (DTV) market is continuing to grow despite a decline in global TV shipments.

Smart TVs, Digital satellite and IPTV services will continue to grow, and digital subscriptions are expected to increase from 114 million in 2011 to 129 million in 2016. IPTV services will grow from eight million subscribers in 2011 to 20 million in 2016.

Online viewing, connected devices and cord-cutting are the driving factors in TV interest, which, combined, are influencing North American Pay TV and others in the industry.

“Cord cutting could still have an impact on the Pay TV market, so we keep a close eye on the trends and activities of Pay TV consumers,” said Jason Blackwell, Director, Service Provider Strategies (SPS) at Strategy Analytics.

Another study from consulting firm McKinsey has assessed the smart TV opportunity and found that connected Internet enabled TVs are likely to grow 70 percent each year to reach over 500 million devices by 2015.

Interest in an array of interactive services such as news, music, apps, widgets, and social networking and future prospect of competing directly with other personal devices—smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other connected TV solutions–along with regular innovation behind TV’s newest features are all driving the shift towards more value-added services in the TV market, and it’s switching consumers’ attention from traditional TVs to Smart TVs.


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