January 9, 2009 - In 2007, TDG predicted that all televisions with screens larger than 15 inches would include embedded broadband connection by 2009-2010. And now CES '09 is all abuzz about...Internet-connected TVs. LG & Netflix signed a streaming deal, Vizio is adding streaming video to their HDTVs, and Intel announced a deal to bring the Internet to TVs made by Toshiba and Samsung.
It is interesting to note how much longer it has taken broadband-enabled TVs and set-top boxes to hit the market when compared with other platforms such as gaming consoles. This is due to several factors:
- Lifecycles - Consumers have grown accustomed to TVs having a much longer lifecycle than other CE platforms (usually more than eight years). Adding any new feature that could prove obsolete prior to the TV itself is viewed as a negative.
- Consumer demand - Only recently have consumers recognized the value of having a broadband-enabled TV, an awareness driven primarily by the growing use of the Internet for entertainment purposes. Why would manufacturers increase BOM costs if consumers so little value in the added feature?
- Fiat of PayTV operators - Set-top boxes have remained without Internet connections due to fear among PayTV operators that allowing an unregulated, open Internet connection to the TV would distract viewers from their programming.
Fiat of PayTV operators - Set-top boxes have remained without Internet connections due to fear among PayTV operators that allowing an unregulated, open Internet connection to the TV would distract viewers from their programming.
As TDG's Members are aware, we informed you this inevitability several years ago (and even accurately predicted the time of marketplace arrival). This week's chart looks forward to 2011 and offers TDG's expectations for the mix of broadband-enabling TV solutions in use at that time.
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