Smart TVs now represent a majority of TVs owned by U.S. households and, according to Hub Entertainment Research, it may pose a threat to connected TV devices.
The research firm released findings from its third annual “Connected Home” report that suggest ownership of a smart TV set is at 70% of TV households this year. The survey results also suggest that 52% of all TV sets are now reported to be smart TVs, up from 45% in 2020, which Hub said indicates accelerated replacement of older, non-smart TVs.
“The wider adoption of smart TVs and replacement of non-smart TVs turns up the pressure on connected devices like streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and video game consoles,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study, in a statement. “This ‘eliminating of the middleman’ will have a direct impact on how future revenue is split on advanced TV businesses like streaming, interactive shopping, and addressable advertising.”
Roku and Amazon still dominate the connected TV streaming device market in the U.S. but both companies also have a substantial presence within the smart TV platform market, too. Hub said over half (57%) of TV homes now say they have a Roku/Fire TV streaming device or a Roku/Fire TV set, up from 51% one year ago.
Hub also found that any streaming to a TV set has increased to 77% of all homes, up from 74% a year ago, whether through a built-in smart TV platform or a connected device. Overall, 56% of all homes say they stream using a smart TV at least once a month – up from 48% in 2020.
Hub said the findings in its “Connected Home 2021” report are based on a survey conducted among 5,000 U.S. consumers and interviews that were conducted in February and March 2021.