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What is the Future of Smart TV for 2020
Hello! Thanks for asking Wonder to explore the future of smart TVs for 2020. The short version is that revenue from smart TVs is forecast to grow at a 19.4% CAGR from 2015–2020. The overall global connected devices market (including smart TVs) is slated to grow to nearly 5% CAGR by 2020. In a time of unprecedented digital connectedness, the market is ripe for smart TV technological innovation and industry growth.
METHODOLOGY
After a careful search through several industry reports and trusted media sites, the most useful sources I found to answer your question are Technavio, MediaGuru, and WebProNews. Per your request, I focused on isolating trends that are predicted for smart TVs in the next handful of years, particularly through 2020. I also paid attention to the way these predictions relate to current digital trends in the connected age. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
SMART TVs TODAY
To provide some context for this study, let's take a brief look at some stats on the current smart TV market. In a direct quote from EMarketer, Senior Anylyst Bill Fisher describes the magnetic pull that digital video content has on consumers: “Whether they’re consuming digital video content via their smartphones, laptops or smart TVs, the average time spent with video content continues to rise. Small declines in time spent with traditional broadcast TV are being more than offset by growth in TV-like content on other platforms.” Nandini Roy Choudhury, Future Market Insights analyst, similarly observed that “strong competition to capture maximum market share is evident across the smartphone and smart TV sub-segment”.
- IHS Markit studies show that smart TVs accounted for 56% of North American TV shipments. The global statistics were similar.
- Some of the leading market share giants in the smart TV sector are Samsung, Apple, LG, and Sony. Other notable players are Vizio and TCL Roku.
- A web browser, YouTube and Netflix are some of the most basic features of smart TVs, combining information access and entertainment.
- Additional selling points of smart TVs are manufacturer-controlled operating systems and built-in cameras.
SMART TVs IN 2020
There are several predominant smart TV trends that industry experts are forecasting for 2020. An insightful article from MediaGuru makes some bold predictions about the future of connected device content: "Internet video to TV traffic will be 17 percent of consumer Internet video traffic by 2019. Content delivery network traffic will deliver over half of all internet video traffic by 2019. By 2019, 72 percent of all Internet video traffic will cross content delivery networks. The volume, variety and velocity of content and data consumption, is increasingly paving the way for legacy content and the indispensability of investing in digital preservation, restoration, digitization and re-purposing of content to meet the exponential demands of the viewers".
- A 2016 press release reported that revenue from smart TVs is forecast to grow at a 19.4% CAGR from 2015–2020.
- Market research company GfK expects a global market share "of nearly 3 quarters by 2020 for smart TVs".
- Market analysts from Technavio expect the overall global connected devices market (including smart TVs) to grow to nearly 5% CAGR by 2020.
- 8k video streaming, although still largely experimental, is forecast to emerge onto the smart TV scene by 2020. (Experts say that Japan will broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8k resolution, which will likely serve as an impetus to push the technology into mainstream.)
- An inevitable drop in consumer prices and integrated computer functionalities will contribute to smart TV market growth through 2020.
- The high-energy efficiency of connected devices like smart TVs will stimulate market growth during the 2016-2020 period.
- Smart TV consumers in 2020 can expect "personalized technology, on-demand viewer experience, individuated content distribution, binge-watching, small television shows and independent cinema, innovative television formats, more localized and vernacular content, ad-free models to targeted ads and everyone connected to a smart TV".
THE CONNECTED AGE
In a time of unprecedented digital connectedness, the market is ripe for smart TV technological innovation and industry growth. According to a study by Furious Corp, millennials are the demographic with the highest ownership of smart TVs; nearly 21% claim to have at least one set in their home. EMarketer forecasts that "by 2020, 34.4% of connected TV users in the US will watch on smart TVs, up from 26.9% in 2016".
A quote from Ovum on WebProNews sums the topic beautifully: "'Due to the proliferation of wearable devices and technology, smart TVs, connected cars and household appliances, beacons, and other technologies, the consumer journey in 2026 will increasingly look like a pretzel that twists, turns and loops back on itself [...] Consumers can start and end their shopping experiences on a mobile platform, in store or online. It is a fluid movement that by 2026 will be even harder for retailers to keep up with or predict because it will include a growing number of devices and touchpoints."
FURTHER READING
If you are interested in doing some additional reading on the topic, I have requested a free sample of the “Consumer Electronics Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015-2020”. I will be happy to forward the literature to you once I receive it!
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, revenue from smart TVs is forecast to grow at a 19.4% CAGR from 2015–2020. The overall global connected devices market (including smart TVs) is slated to grow to nearly 5% CAGR by 2020. In a time of unprecedented digital connectedness, the market is ripe for smart TV technological innovation and industry growth.
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