A new industry report from Parks Associates suggests the number of households worldwide with an OTT video service subscription will exceed 265 million by 2022.
The popularity of OTT video services, such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, has driven a steady increase in adoption of smart TVs and streaming media players since 2010, according to Global Connected Living Outlook: Expanding IoT Momentum.
According to Kristen Hanich, research analyst at Parks Associates, “53 per cent of US broadband households own a smart TV, and both smart TVs and streaming media players are continually improving the user experience to accommodate the shifting habits of consumers, including integration with voice-based digital assistant ecosystems.”
“The rise of digital assistants is another key trend over the last few years, with Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, and Samsung Bixby, among others, now on the market. Both smart home and connected entertainment developers are working to integrate this functionality into their products.”
The report also reveals that consumers now own an average of 8.6 connected CE products in their home, an 87 per cent growth in the average volume of devices since 2010.
Additional research from the report also found that more than 70 per cent of US broadband households have an internet-connected entertainment device, while 17 per cent own both a smart home device and an internet-connected entertainment device.
“With IoT expansion comes added expectations of interoperability,” said Jennifer Kent, director, Research Quality & Product Development, Parks Associates. “Consumers prioritise general device interoperability over staying within a specific brand ecosystem when considering a purchase; three-fourths of consumers find it important to consider any smart home product brand that will work with other products in their home and 49 per cent find this very important.”
