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| Why Smart TVs And Streaming Gadgets Are Conquering The Living... Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:28 AM PST  Why Smart TVs And Streaming Gadgets Are Conquering The Living Room…
A new report from Business Insider discusses the connected TV landscape, analyzing the factors, trends, and key players that are shaping the market. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report: - Streaming devices currently comprise the majority of connected TVs. But we believe distribution will shift to smart TVs, as prices decrease and the television upgrade cycle shortens.
- Apple TV and Roku hold the largest market share for streaming devices, but Chromecast, which Google released last summer, has also achieved stellar sales numbers. Market research data shows that 8 million Apple TVs and 4.5 million Rokus shipped in 2013 in the U.S.
- Smart TVs will account for the majority of television shipments by 2014. By 2015, more households will have smart TV than connected TVs.
- On both streaming devices and smart TVs there is a division between open and closed platforms. Chromecast, LG, and Roku have embraced open platforms that allow developers a great deal of freedom to develop apps for their devices. Samsung, Apple, and others are betting on closed ecosystems, which follow a more careful curatorial approach.
- Despite platform fragmentation, HTML5 offers at least a faint hope for increased unification between connected TVs, just as it does on mobile. LG and Chromecast have integrated it into their connected TV development environments.
- How will developers and operating system operators monetize smart TV apps? Media downloads, subscriptions and — to a much lesser degree — advertisements will drive the dollars. Smart TV platform operators have begun experimenting with ads.
- Changes to the pay TV industry, namely cable and satellite providers, will also have a huge impact on the future of connected TV. It's now an open question as to how — and how effectively — cable providers will use their power to shape the future of connected TV.
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