Connected TV growth slows in the US
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Michelle Clancy
| 27 January 2017

Growth in connected TV sales is slowing in the US, as penetration reaches into most households, according to research from The Diffusion Group (TDG).

The study shows that penetration of Internet-connected TVs among US broadband households has increased nearly 50% since 2013, from 50% to 74% at year-end 2016. And that means that sales are slowing.

Growth between 2015 and last year was only 4%, compared to 22% between 2013 and 2014, and another 15% between 2014 and 2015.

Besides saturation, broadband penetration has a hand in this. As TDG first noted in 2004, the diffusion of connected TVs would closely follow broadband uptake, and as broadband growth begins to slow, so too does the number of new connected-TV users.

“At 74% penetration, connected TV use is squarely in the ‘Late Mainstream’ phase of its trajectory,” said Michael Greeson, TDG president and director of research. “Barring any major disruption in TV technology or market conditions, growth will slow each year as the solution reaches saturation.”

That said, pervasive access brings with it a wide range of opportunities, especially when it comes to video services. “Broadband pay-TV services are particularly well positioned to leverage this utility, which permits scale at much lower costs,” added Greeson.