Game consoles were rated as the
most used connected CE device in North America to stream Netflix content,
according to ABI Research.
Survey respondents said that on
average, they spent seven to eight hours a week watching online video on these
CE devices.
Companies such as Microsoft and Sony in particular are
pushing to make the consoles more central to the digital living room. Nintendo
is not as aggressive in this regard yet, but with the Wii U they might try to
make a bigger push into the over-the-top content delivery market,” said Michael
Inouye, senior analyst, digital home, ABI Research.
There were also significant regional disparities in game
console connectivity rates: APAC has a low connect rate (13.1 percent in China,
10.9 percent in India, and only 6.3 percent in South Korea), especially
compared to Western Europe (37.3 percent in the UK, 31.8 percent in France, and
20.6 percent in Germany) and the United States (38.7 percent). China’s low
numbers can be attributed to the fact that game consoles are largely banned,
while South Korea’s piracy issues and penchant for online and PC gaming limit
the demand for consoles.
Some industry insiders have started to envision the demise
of game consoles – an end expected to come at the hands of mobile devices. But
we feel this market still has plenty of life. While mobile devices might soon
match the processing power of game consoles, there are a number of issues such
as storage and portability that could hinder the transition to mobile. The game
console has a higher degree of persistence in the living room, giving more
household members access to the device at any time of the day, whereas most
mobile devices are designed for portability and a more personal experience,”
said Jason Blackwell, practice director, Digital home
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
