Smart TV sales to hit 220 million by 2017

Over 220 million Smart TV sets will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from the 54 million that will be sold in 2012, according to Informa Telecoms & Media’s latest Smart TV device forecasts.

The forecast says 31% of households worldwide will own at least one Smart TV in five years time, with household penetration much higher in North America (63%) and Western Europe (64%).

However, while Smart TV connection rates are rising, they will continue to lag the connection rates of games consoles and media streaming devices such as Apple TV and Roku.

“Informa estimates that in 2017 more than half of the 800 million Smart TV sets will only be used as dumb screens,” said Andrew Ladbrook, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.  “Moreover, while any ‘smart’ TV bought in 2011 or 2012 can be used for streaming online video services for a few years, they lack the processing power and the necessary hardware to perform those smart TV functions that will be standard in 2015.  Simply put, any Smart TV purchased in 2012 will be effectively obsolete by 2015.”

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