A new study indicates that manufacturers of streaming media devices will have to look outside the U.S. growth in the next few years, as global streaming media device (SMD) unit shipments decline at a -4.1% compound annual growth rate from 64.4 million units sold globally in 2023 to 52.3 million units in 2028 according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The study also forecasts that the U.S. installed base of streaming media devices will contract as smart TVs grow to more than three quarters of the digital TV installed base. Reflecting this sea change, some of the SMD sector's biggest vendors, such as Roku and Amazon, are putting more emphasis on smart TV operations, the report noted.
Commenting on the forecasts, Neil Barbour, research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence said that “Alphabet discontinuing the Chromecast is part of a larger story in which streaming media devices have reached the end of their growth phase. There is opportunity in APAC, where smart TVs have not yet penetrated as deeply as they have in North America or Western Europe, but there unlikely to be enough uptake to push the overall market back into positive territory.”
The report predicts that sales will continue to slow in mature markets but will be partially offset by rising opportunity in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
However, SMDs may also find niche opportunities worldwide as new use cases emerge, such as cloud gaming or smart home control points. The key caveat to consider is that any functionality an SMD may offer can also be incorporated into smart TVs, partially offsetting the uplift, S&P Global Market Intelligence said.
