Second screen purchase booming
April 23, 2012
Smartphones and media tablets continue to capture headlines while consumer electronic devices continue to see healthy interest from consumers. 25 per cent of US respondents to ABI Research’s Technology Barometer survey said they intend to purchase a smartphone during the first half of 2012 – a percentage equaled by HDTVs. Additionally, more respondents intend to purchase Blu-ray players (17 per cent) and game consoles (18 per cent), rather than media tablets (16 per cent).
“Mobile devices have clearly captured the attention of many consumers and companies within the content value chain, but consumer electronics devices like TVs, Blu-ray players, and game consoles remain at the heart of the digital living room,” says senior analyst Michael Inouye. “Connectivity continues to present new opportunities for all members within the value chain to enrich the user experience and mobile devices will increasingly be an additive part of the equation.”
Second screen applications and social TV applications like GetGlue, Miso, zeebox, Disney Second Screen, and Shazam are prime examples where mobile devices are accentuating the viewing experience in the living room. Programming the DVR and multiscreen services are also gaining a great deal of attention from pay-TV operators and consumers alike, but this is still a nascent facet of the market.
“There will always be value in viewing content on the large screen, so we do not see these mobile applications as subtractive or competitive to the connected CE space,” adds Inouye. “Respondents, for instance, continue to favor connected CE devices for viewing Internet video content on the main screen over alternatives like smartphones or tablets. While connecting a mobile device to the TV screen or wirelessly mirroring the screen may be foreign to many consumers, this practice will occur more frequently as the market and consumer behavior evolves, but given the portable nature of these devices and social nature of TV viewing fixed devices will continue to have a strong role to play in the digital living room.”