A quarter of US Apple customers own an Apple TV, survey shows

06 Nov 2019 | Rasmus Larsen |

The Apple TV box is more widely used than AirPods, Watch, and HomePods, according to data from CIRP. Almost a quarter of Apple customers in the US own an Apple TV.

Apple TV "is the most popular"For years, Apple reported unit sales of iPhone, iPad and Mac but the company has never released hard data on the Apple TV, AirPods, HomePod, and Watch, which are all grouped into "other products" in its earnings reports.

So how popular is the Apple TV really? Almost a quarter of Apple customers in the US own the streaming player, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). If true, that would make Apple TV the company's most widely used "other" product.

- "Apple TV is the most popular of the gadgets among the Other Products, with about one-quarter of current customers owning one," said Mike Levin, CIRP partner. "Apple TV has been around for many years, so we’re not surprised that it has achieved this penetration."

The survey looks at the installed base (devices in use), not new sales, from september 2018 to september 2019. How large is Apple's installed base in the US? CIRP did not provide a total estimate but said that the US installed base of iPhones is 204 million as of September 2019.

That number suggests that Apple TV is in fact hugely popular in the US, which bodes well for the company's new gaming (Arcade) and streaming services (TV+). Amongst TV devices, Arcade is available only on Apple TV while TV+ is also available on other manufacturers' TVs and streaming players.

Also read: Apple TV+ is now live in over 100 countries

Roku and FireTV remain the two leading TV platforms in terms of streaming hours, according to report by Conviva.

- Source: CIRP via AppleWorld