Smart TVs now represent a majority of TVs owned by U.S. households and, according to Hub Entertainment Research, it may pose a threat to connected TV devices.
The research firm released findings from its third annual “Connected Home” report that suggest ownership of a smart TV set is at 70% of TV households this year. The survey results also suggest that 52% of all TV sets are now reported to be smart TVs, up from 45% in 2020, which Hub said indicates accelerated replacement of older, non-smart TVs.
“The wider adoption of smart TVs and replacement of non-smart TVs turns up the pressure on connected devices like streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and video game consoles,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study, in a statement. “This ‘eliminating of the middleman’ will have a direct impact on how future revenue is split on advanced TV businesses like streaming, interactive shopping, and addressable advertising.”
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Roku and Amazon still dominate the connected TV streaming device market in the U.S. but both companies also have a substantial presence within the smart TV platform market, too. Hub said over half (57%) of TV homes now say they have a Roku/Fire TV streaming device or a Roku/Fire TV set, up from 51% one year ago.
Hub also found that any streaming to a TV set has increased to 77% of all homes, up from 74% a year ago, whether through a built-in smart TV platform or a connected device. Overall, 56% of all homes say they stream using a smart TV at least once a month – up from 48% in 2020.
Hub said the findings in its “Connected Home 2021” report are based on a survey conducted among 5,000 U.S. consumers and interviews that were conducted in February and March 2021.