Majority of TVs will have Google, says Schmidt

The majority of TVs on sale in the summer of next year will have Google TV embedded, according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt told Le Web conference in France last week that “the majority of the televisions you see in stores” would have Google TV embedded by the summer of 2012.

Google has had limited success with its TV push so far, with only Sony currently delivering a Google TV-enable TV set.

Consumer electronics company Logitech recently withdrew from the Google TV market after experiencing disappointing sales for its Logitech Revue set-top box. However, TV manufacturers Samsung and LG are widely expected to announce Google TV products next year, following Google’s relaunch of the platform.
Schmidt also said that Google’s Android platform was now beating Apple’s iOS in terms of unit volumes shipped, and that app development was likely to follow the volume.

Schmidt’s comments came amidst reports that Apple is preparing to launch a version of the iMac with TV capabilities early next year ahead of its expected launch of an ‘Apple TV’. Analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners told investors last week that Apple was preparing to launch a TV-enabled Mac.