Apple TV was first shipped in 2007; eight years later, though the streaming media device industry is a mature industry, it continues to grow. Industry players find themselves in a highly-competitive environment, requiring continuous innovation and compelling value propositions to increase both the base and market share.

Gaming consoles had the early streaming advantage, as consumers were already buying these devices to play games; consumers had the opportunity to try out streaming with a device they already owned. While gaming console penetration is declining among U.S. broadband households, the devices are still both owned and used by over half of broadband households. Gaming consoles have always been the most-connected living room entertainment device in U.S. broadband households, but connections as a most-used streaming device declined between 2014 and 2015.

Parks Associates research shows the following about gaming consoles:

• Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation consoles are used in approximately 9 million U.S. broadband households each.
• Among the two-thirds of U.S. broadband households that connect at least one device to the Internet, Microsoft’s Xbox One or Xbox 360 rank highest in terms of use.
• More than half of consumers ages 18-24 use a gaming console most often for streaming.

Consumers will use an already-owned gaming console for streaming but will not purchase one exclusively for streaming. At around $400 for a traditional console such as the Microsoft Xbox One or Sony PlayStation 4, the device is pricey for non-gamers that only wish to stream. Gaming consoles are high-performance machines that appeal to a very engaged audience willing to pay for the quality and functionality of the device.

For more information on this research, see Parks Associates’ report The Streaming Media Device Landscape.

Further Reading:

• Amazon, Apple, Google, and Roku dominate streaming media device market with 86% of sales
• Streaming Media Devices
• Connected CE: Trends and Innovation

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