Shipments of IP-enabled devices surpass 60m
December 31, 2007
MultiMedia Intelligence reports that shipments of IP-enabled consumer electronics reached 64 million units in 2007. This represented nearly 73 per cent growth. However, the market continues to be dominated by Internet-enabled video game consoles.
While many of these game console IP interfaces remain unconnected, the enormous developing installed base represents a 'Trojan Horse' with potential for online gaming, music and video downloads, as well as a variety of internet-based value-added services. Already, in late 2007 Activision announced that more than 2 million songs associated with the 'Guitar Hero' video game were accessed through Xbox live alone over the previous five months.
“An increasing variety of TV-centric consumer electronics devices with IP interfaces is developing. Manufacturers are adding IP interfaces across TVs, DVD equipment, as well as cable, telco, and satellite set top boxes,” according to Mark Kirstein, President of MultiMedia Intelligence. “While manufacturers and operators are gradually adding IP connectivity, the IP-Enabled Consumer Electronics market has not reached a true inflection point beyond game consoles for hyper-growth. However, this growing installed base of CE devices with dormant IP ports could quickly become active with a simple network connection or software upgrade.”