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US Smart Home Device Ownership Exploding, TVs More Connected Amid Fast Connections, ATSC 3.0 Event Hears

Smart home device ownership “continues to explode,” doubling to 20 percent of U.S. internet homes in April from November 2015, Stephen Baker, NPD vice president-industry analysis, told the ATSC 3.0 Midwest Next-Gen TV Summit in Columbus, Ohio. Voice-activated speakers are…

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the “first intelligent product in many consumer homes,” said Baker, citing data from a Connected Intelligence survey, with ownership doubling to 20 percent of U.S. homes in Q2 from the same 2017 quarter. TVs are “dramatically more connected,” said Baker Thursday. NPD estimates 63 million U.S. homes owned 210 million smart TVs at the end of 2017, an increase of 21 million homes and 108 million devices in four years, he said. Sixty-three percent of U.S. homes owning at least one 4K TV have “enough bandwidth” to stream 4K video content, said Baker, due to “faster tier broadband plans.” NPD estimates 16.3 percent of internet homes in the U.S. were 4K streaming-capable in February, said Baker. Having passed from the early adopter to the early majority stage of new technology acceptance, 4K streaming-capable internet homes are poised to reach mainstream proportions, he said.