40% of US internet homes – 39 million – will own a streaming media player (SMP) by Q1’17, says the NPD Group. Only 16% of these homes owned such a device in Q1’14, and the penetration is expected to reach 24% in Q1’15.
Apple and Roku initially drove the SMP market, but since mid-2013, Amazon and Google have made inroads. TVs, game consoles and Blu-ray players also perform a similar function. SMPs are forecast to represent the highest growth of these four device platforms, with TVs the second-highest growth, in installed and internet-connected TV devices over the next two years.
By Q1’17, NPD expects that there will be 211 million streaming players installed in the USA.
Source: The NPD GroupOf the top five streaming video services, Amazon Prime Instant Video was boosted the most by SMPs, but all of the top five (Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, Hulu Plus and HBO Go) experienced rises.
