More than 100 million smart TVs worldwide

In China, the sale of smart TVs will surpass those in the US this year, according to Strategy Analytics, reaching more than double in 2017.

According to a study by Strategy Analytics, there are currently more than one hundred million smart televisions in homes around the world. In a market such as the US, its penetration already exceeds 20%.

It should be noted that in China the sale of smart TVs will exceed, according to Strategy Analytics, those in the US this year, reaching more than double in 2017. The cost advantage of ARM and Android and the abundant content in the Android ecosystem will allow Chinese television manufacturers to offer very affordable prices. On the other hand, the limited availability of content on smart television platforms in the US would be restricting growth in this market.

"Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic will continue to compete in the US and European market with smart products based on their own platforms or third-party platforms such as Google TV. Chinese television manufacturers such as Hisense, TCL and Skyworth are adopting Android, which already offers a large number of applications and content. The wide adoption of Android on smart TVs in China will boost sales as consumers will have access to a wide variety of content," said Jia Wu, director of Connected Home Devices,

David Mercer, vice president and analyst at Strategy Analytics, added that "smart TV manufacturers help drive short-term sales growth, but they are also a long-term strategic position. Major vendors like Samsung and Sony believe they can develop smart TVs based on content and service platforms to support new revenue streams, but we won't know if this strategy is successful for several more years."