Yankee Group Forecasts 91 Million Connected Home Entertainment Devices to Be Adopted in the U.S. by 2013

By Alexander Grundner | June 1st, 2009 (0) Comments

The Yankee Group predicts that by 2013 60% of U.S. households will have a home network in place and own 30 million connected Blu-ray players, 50 million connected HDTVs, and 11 million digital media adapters. I like their crystal ball! Yankee Group also foresees that content will need to be sold in news ways, Pay-TV services will need to innovate and keep pace, and advertising will become more intelligent and pervasive. Personally, I find it interesting that connected HDTVs, which have just begun rolling out (talking about the ones powered Yahoo! Widget Engine), will be taking such a commanding lead in just a few short years. I’m also curious if or where networked game consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360 fall into these numbers, since I don’t see any mention of them. In any case, it’s good news all around for the industry.

Big Growth Ahead for Connected HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Digital Media Adapters

Yankee Group Forecasts 91 Million Devices to Be Adopted in U.S. by 2013

Boston, MA, June 1, 2009 — Connectivity will be a force to reckon with according to Yankee Group’s connected device forecast, which predicts more than 60 percent of U.S. households will have a home network by 2013. As consumers crave more control of their experiences, a new era of connectivity is being ushered in with easier-to-use home networks, self-identifiable connected devices and faster home network speeds.

By 2013, U.S. households will have:

* 30 million connected Blu-ray players
* 50 million connected HDTVs
* 11 million digital media adapters

According to the forecast, Connected Consumers, Connected Devices: 2009 U.S. Forecast, Part 1, moving broadband content beyond the PC will become routine for millions of households, across millions of devices. Wireless photo frames, home audio players, appliances and all other manner of devices will be connected, giving consumers the ability to access multimedia, entertainment and other content when they want it, where they want it.

The ramifications of ubiquitous connectivity—what Yankee Group calls “Anywhere” — are immense. Content will need to be sold in all-new ways. Pay-TV services will be pushed to innovate faster to remain relevant. Advertising will become more intelligent and more pervasive. And how people shop will change, furthering the transformative effects of connectivity on the entire consumer experience.

Joshua Martin, Yankee Group senior analyst and author of the forecast, warns that established power structures among content, hardware and pay-TV service providers will likely shift as a result of the Anywhere device trend. “No matter how big a company is today, if it does not prepare for the tidal wave of connectivity that is nearing the shore, they are certain to end up underwater.”

Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com)
The people of Yankee Group are the global connectivity experts™—the leading source of insight and counsel for builders, operators and users of connectivity solutions. For nearly 40 years, Yankee Group has conducted primary research that charts the pace of technology change and its effect on networks, consumers and enterprises. Headquartered in Boston, Yankee Group has a global presence including operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

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