14 DAY TRIAL // We've been hearing a lot about television sets, monitors and laptop/tablet panels, and while overall sales have been going down (for large-size screens especially), they have also been getting cheaper.
That's neither here nor there though. What we are here to talk about is the progress that Smart TVs have made.
Apparently, 2012 was a very good year for TV sets that also have the ability to tap into the Internet, run widgets or behave like media players.
Shipments went up 27% in 2012, to 66 million units. Going by those numbers, market research firm IHS iSuppli thinks Smart TVs will account for 55% of all TV sales in 2015. Global shipments will be of around 141 million at that point, the analysts think.
“Smart TVs are rapidly joining the mainstream as manufacturers refine their products to add new features and to make them easier to use,” said IHS analyst Veronica Thayer.