New Parks Associates research finds that 14% of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a streaming media player by midyear 2016 and that, as of the third quarter of 2015, 31% of U.S. broadband households currently own a streaming media player, up from 27% at the beginning of the year.

“Streaming media players will be a popular gift this holiday season, especially with more competitive pricing in the market and the expansion of new OTT services” said Barbara Kraus, Director of Research, Parks Associates. “With the popularity of the category, it has now divided into two tiers – basic and premium models. Consumers who want basic content streaming will gravitate to streaming media sticks such as the Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV due to their lower costs, which also make them good gift options. Cube-shaped players, like the Roku 4, NVIDIA SHIELD, and the latest generation of the Apple TV, are premium players, with more features, such as 4K streaming and more internal storage, but still with a much lower price tag than a new smart TV or connected gaming console.”

The Parks Associates industry report The Streaming Media Device Landscape addresses future strategies for the major streaming media player form factors, cube-shaped boxes and sticks, as well as the growth of the market, the impact of new entrants, and five-year unit sales forecasts. The Parks Associates quarterly survey American Broadband Households and their Technologies shows that purchase intentions for streaming media devices have stayed consistent for the past two years, with a predictable uptick around the holiday season.

“In 2016, streaming media players will differentiate their models and brands through additional features, such as content options or new technologies like 4K,” Kraus said. “Ultimately consumers want a simple, uninterrupted experience in accessing OTT content, so that will be the minimum expectation for any device, regardless of the cost.”

Previous research from Parks Associates shows that two-thirds of U.S. broadband households connect at least one device to the Internet. Among these households, a Microsoft Xbox is the most commonly used CE device for streaming at more than 14%, followed closely by Sony PlayStation at just less than 14%. Roku is third at 10%, surpassing brands such as the Nintendo Wii, Samsung, and Google in consumer usage when accessing online video content.

Follow the company on Twitter at @ParksAssociates and get updates from the tenth-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit: IoT, Entertainment, and the Connected Consumer, January 6-7 at CES® 2016 with #CONNSummit16. During CES, visit Parks Associates at booth #70,959 in the Sands.

To schedule an interview with Barbara Kraus or to request specific data, contact Holly Sprague at [email protected], 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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