“According to new research by eMarketer, 168 million people will use Internet-connected TV this year, up about 10% from last year,” Michael Potuck reports for 9to5Mac. “More growth is expected for the coming years, but it looks like many consumers will be opting for hardware from Roku, Amazon, and Google instead of Apple.”
“eMarketer says that about half of the 168 million people using connected TV this year will do so from a Smart TV,” Potuck reports. “The other half will use a set-top box like Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, or an Amazon Fire TV Stick, which are the top four products on the market.”
“Roku leads the market with 38.9 millions users, followed by Google Chromecast coming in second with 36.9 million. Amazon Fire TV is a close third place with 35.8 million,” Potuck reports. “Apple lags significantly behind in fourth place with 21.3 million users, just over 12% of the connected TV market.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple obviously needs compelling original exclusive content, a totally new Siri Remote designed by someone who has actually used a TV remote, 4K capability, and aggressive hardware pricing (that will be more than offset via recurring subscriptions and purchases on the back end).
SEE ALSO:
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The ultimate cable television cord cutting solution for Apple TV owners – February 17, 2017
Sony releases PlayStation Vue app for Apple TV – November 17, 2016—
Apple’s so-called TV ‘strategy’ continues to be an embarrassing joke – June 30, 2017
7 ways Apple TV can get better – May 31, 2017
Apple TV trails Roku, Amazon FireTV and Google Chromecast with 5% of all U.S. households with WiFi – April 3, 2017
Apple hires Amazon’s Fire TV head to run Apple TV business – February 8, 2017
‘The Grand Tour’ smashes Amazon streaming record – November 22, 2016
Jeremy Clarkson confirms new post-Top Gear Amazon Prime show will be in 4K – November 20, 2015
Apple TV and the 4K Ultra HD conundrum – October 8, 2015
Amazon unveils $100 Fire TV box 4K video support, Alexa voice control – September 17, 2015
Apple made ‘audacious bid’ for Top Gear trio of Clarkson, Hammond and May, but lost out to Bezos’ Amazon – September 1, 2015
Apple’s move into content creation could devastate Netflix and Amazon
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Why would Apple want to make their own movies and TV shows? – September 1, 2015
Apple exploring entry into original entertainment production – August 31, 2015
Top Gear’s Clarkson, Hammond and May sign with Amazon Prime for new show to debut in 2016 – July 30, 2015
Thank you Eddy Cue!
Take a gamble, spend some money, go find some original content in several genres and make them exclusive for Apple TV. Imagine having the next Game of Thrones as an Apple TV exclusive.
LOL, LOL, LOL that’ll never happen!
Can’t believe they have done such a poor job with AppleTV…especially the ATV4….mine just collects dust as I have zero compelling arguments to fire it up….Love the cool screen-savers though….
ATV for was doomed from the start it lacks 4K at a time it was needed and this app mantra is just a joke. Apple needs new leadership for sure and not just at the Tim Cook level
Apple just needs content period.
I don’t even think it has to be original. But Apple should at least have any 3rd party content that any other TV box or service (Hulu, Vudu, Netflix) has!
Why can’t Apple offer a digital movie subscription service with at least as many movies as Netflix or Amazon?
And don’t get me started on live sports.
“eMarketer says that about half of the 168 million people using connected TV this year will do so from a Smart TV,” Potuck reports. “The other half will use a set-top box like Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, or an Amazon Fire TV Stick, which are the top four products on the market.”
I wonder what percent of SmartTVs are GoogleTV based? This would significantly change the percentages when considering the TV OS platform developers will be targeting.
I just bought a new 4K TV and it comes with Amazon and Netflix built in. Don’t even need the Amazon Fire I have, and I used to use it 50x more than the ATV. I don’t mind simplifying inputs at all.
I used to believe Apple would win the war for the living room, but it’s been clear for a few years now that they won’t.
…and the stupid thing about it is Apple virtually invented it.
Make Apple Great Again: Dump Pipeline Timmy.
I have to admit – I’m about to look at a non-Apple solution here. I have waited, and waited, and waited, and… It is time to get something worth having hooked up to my TV.
My Apple TV (v.2) still has a great interface, good response, and the iPhone app is makes for a decent remote. But there should be so much more by now. Even the upgrade to the 3rd version wasn’t enough to get me to buy a new device.
Then again, I can do most of the same on my iPhone and send it to my aTV, so maybe not so big a deal. We’ll see. I do wish for more content available. 4K doesn’t bother me that much. Yes, I can see it. It is very noticible. But HD doesn’t offend me.
I run both a Roku and an ATV4. I don’t have a 4K TV, so I don’t (currently) care about that, but the only thing that keeps me from dumping the Roku is Amazon Prime video.
But Apple needs to lead the pack here. The designless remote, the lack of 4K support – they’re simply evidence of lack of real commitment on Apple’s part to leading the TV market.
Hey Tim – lead or get out of the way. Apple should NEVER be a follower.
I thought Amazon Prime Video was recently available on ATV.
It’s coming soon, likely this Fall.
“….it’s in the pipeline.”
MDN’s take is spot on.
As much as I personally like the Apple TV 4 remote, it’s clearly an issue for many people and Apple should address this.
Likewise, 4K, HDR, HEVC… these appear to be coming soon, but can’t come soon enough. Hopefully will soon launch hardware and a large library of content. If Apple can provide the largest 4K library, this will help out a lot, especially if they can provide an upgrade/transition deal (but I highly doubt they can).
The upcoming Amazon app will help, but Apple also needs good exclusive content.
In the meantime, I’m pretty happy with my Apple TV 4 units and Mac mini Plex server.
Apple is leaving Billions on the table with a lack luster services business. Always late and not an exceptional offering as is the case in hardware. Mostly. The weak link in the executive team and the same in charge of the most important segment of Apple and the one segment with all of a Wall Street looking at is Eddy Cue. His public remarks are an embarrassment. I think you will see him leave Apl by years end. If so the stock will pop 5% – 10%. He is an example of a fat rich lazy out of touch executive. Time to cut the fat.
Remember when Microsoft spent all its efforts trying to get developers and customers to be locked to Windows?
Well that is what Cook is doing with Apple, just substitute the word iCloud or App Store for Windows.
Problem is, juggling many apps and subscriptions results in a really sucky way to manage home entertainment, live content of any kind, or personal media.
The calls for Cue and Cook and the Beats crew to step aside are definitely valid.
But Apple has Jimmy Iovine and the beater Dre and Planet of the Apps!
Someone explain the logic of Eddie Cue having a job at Apple.
He looks like he’s in his third trimester, maybe he’s carrying Tim’s baby?
Maybe Tim likes Pot Bellied Middle Aged Men. He’s an Auburn fan, so we know he has no taste.
Of course that is better than being an Alabama fan.
Three of my four teevees are smart sets. The fourth is an older flatscreen from a time before smarts became common. It has my old ATV hooked to it and my daughter uses it to watch Netflix, and that’s it.
It really wouldn’t matter what features they would add – I wouldn’t buy a new ATV.
Well, we just cut the tv cable and now have five Amazon Fire boxes running our streams. Only ATV4 in the house is running our HomeKit network. Just a more capable streamer.
It’s too expensive. The gaming aspect didn’t take off, and the name is problematic (it’s not a TV)
Even when Apple gets into the content business, it would be silly to limit it to only Apple devices.
I will try out the next gen ATV when it comes out. Ready to upgrade my gen2 devices.
I have to agree that ATV doesn’t offer great differences from other devices, except for the fact that it can link up to my iTunes library.
Turn it into a powerful game console and everything else will follow suit.
That’ll give the Nvidia Shield Android TV box some competition then.
Pipeline Tim is doing his pipeline OK, software Kits are making an impact, but narrative content is going only into mediocre commercials.
lol
expensive box
Apple execs are still coasting on Jobs’ accomplishments. They just spent the last half a decade churning out different size thin clients that could tie the customer to an app store and/or rental server space and/or rental streaming media. Addicted to the cash cow instead of working hard to make every product the best in class at every price point. No, Apple uses its brand image to demand the highest price but you no longer are guaranteed to get a great experience. Our Apple TV was a huge disappointment. I’d rather go back to a Mac Mini with iTunes 10 than use AppleTV or anything iOS. Seriously, Apple doesn’t understand the living room at all.
Apple is no longer scrappy and motivated to deliver a superior user experience. GUI went from intuitive to shocking bad. The hardware went from versatile to thin constrained overpriced fashion statements. There was a time when paying more meant you got a significantly better product. Apple lost the plot because from a user perspective, an increasing number of Apple products are just not up to par. Apple TV is just one obvious example. Sorry, but this is Cooks Apple now and there is no excuse for the poor user experience anymore.
If your TV doesn’t already have Roku or whatever built in, then there are two choices for cinephiles: if you want the best video quality, buy a 4k bluray player, most of which include streaming. If you want streaming media, you buy Roku, which offers just about everything. Or use a Mac. But my patience is gone, we won’t be wasting any more time or money on another Apple TV.
Even by Apple standards of late this is truly a balls up of atomic levels. Indeed its difficult to understand how they could have been so totally incompetent for so long and like a rabbit in the headlights unable or unwilling to correct their errors. And yes how have heads not rolled in this matter unless of course much of the problem comes from Cook’s indecision himself. Or has Eddy Cue got something over him for heavens sake to keep his own job so untouchable?
And all the talk from Cook about how its the only device you need to watch TV sounds even more delusional than Comical Ali. Clearly even though we thought the last iteration was supposed to be it, they are working (if they are working at all) on something they can launch as a big upgrade as in typical and logical fashion they have done with AR and (finally) HomePod but they have been so incompetent with AppleTV so far and any similar leap forward over and above what competitors have already or will equally do in a similar time scale is so difficult to imagine that its difficult to imagine it being but a vane hope with the blind leading the blind here.
Original programming (or using the dosh to buy in deals rather than frittering it on buy backs) has been the obvious way ahead for years to break through the barriers that ATV has come up against, but even though they seem to be heading belatedly in that direction now, that too has already been exploited by competitors while Apple sat fiddling while ATV was being burned.
There’s literally no TV catch-up apps available for UK customers beyond iPlayer. They’re all available for the fire stick. Apple can’t attract TV channels to their platform so they’re not the future.
Eddie Clueless should be moved on and should take his pot belly with him. Never has failure been rewarded so well.
My biggest complaint with Apple TV 4 is the remote. I use both Roku and Apple TV and the remote for Roku is much easier to use. Bulk it up so it is easier to hold. Sometimes thiner is not better, especially when it is slick.
I have three ATV (4 gen) in my home. I use a HDHomeRun Prime with a cable card and Channels app running on all the ATV. Saved some money on STB rentals.
I also use Plex as my DVR. So I like the ATV, but it is still a hobby I guess. The remote stinks and the device is limited. While Amazon Prime will be here soon enough as it is in “Cooks pipeline” LOL
Apple should be leading in this category and not just another streaming box.
BUT under Cook Apple is not leading or innovating in much. Basically they are an iPhone company, nothing else seems to matter much. Apple Music sucks, no more monitors, Macs are way behind, no more wifi products (replaced in my home with Orbi), iPad is way behind as well.
The last MacBook Pro was a joke and I passed on buying one and am still running an old machine. If Apple does not fix the MacBook Pro, I guess I will be buying Windows as I am not spending $3K for a hardware I hate! I will spend far less and by Windows I hate instead!
Oh Apple! 😥