Report: Amazon takes lead in 'soaring' market for connected TV devices

12 Mar 2021 | Rasmus Larsen |

Global sales of connected TV devices (Smart TVs, streamers and consoles) soared to a new record in Q4 2020, according to research from Strategy Analytics. Amazon has taken the lead.

Global sales soaredGlobal sales of connected TV devices reached 109.1 million units in Q4 2020, and 305.3 million units (up 7.6% year-over-year) for the full year of 2020. That is according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

- "Global sales of connected TV devices soared to a new record in Q4 2020, reaching 109.1 million units," said Strategy Analytics. "Amazon became market leader for the first time with sales of 13.2 million devices and a market share of 12.1%. Samsung slipped into second place while Sony remained third after the launch of its new PS5 games console."

Amazon has taken the lead, the report said, as Fire TV Stick 4K became the best-selling media streaming device in 2020.

- "Amazon has had great success with its Fire TV Stick 4K, which became the world’s best-selling digital media streamer device in 2020. However, the market remains fragmented overall and there is still a long way to go in the battle to build global-scale TV streaming platforms during the 2020s," said Edouard Bouffenie, Senior Analyst, Strategy Analytics.

Further growth in 2021According to the report, tech giants Apple and Google lag behind, but it should be noted that some TVs from Sony, TCL, Xiaomi, and others use Google's Android TV platform.

Similarly, TCL is using Roku's platform in the US and Amazon's FireTV is also powering TVs from lesser known brands. Strategy Analytics did not release sales figures for TV platforms.

186 million Smart TVs and 81 million media streaming devices were sold in 2020. The research firm predicts further growth in 2021 as viewers continue to migrate towards streaming services. In 2021, Apple is expected to launch upgraded Apple TV hardware while Google will start a wider roll-out of Google TV together with partners like Sony and TCL.

- Source: Strategy Analytics