Android TV, Google’s operating system for smart TVs, is the fastest growing platform in the last quarter of 2021. Buoyed by the Google TV experience, developers’ efforts to implement improvements over the past year appear to have paid off.
Despite the expansion, the share of the North American market, the main one in the world, is still quite weak compared to the current ones. Conviva’s research used watch time to determine each platform’s participation. Although it does not reflect sales per se, the numbers reveal important data for the segment and provide a good view of user habits.
As per the report, Android TV had a 42% increase in usage in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. The growth was relatively higher than the industry dominants: Samsung got 27% more, while LG reached an incredible 36%. Roku ranked fourth with just 12% from the previous year.
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Other platforms that deliver streaming services, like PlayStation and Xbox, have seen shrinkage in usage, which is to be expected when people are finally able to buy a quality smartTV. Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV were also in the negative, albeit less so than gaming platforms.
Chromecast with Android TV
One case that draws attention is the Chromecast. Google’s device was stagnant for some time, after all the company stopped selling most models and left only the most expensive solution on the market. There are even rumors that all products will be discontinued to make way for a Chromecast FHD with the Android TV operating system built in.
When the numbers look at a global perspective, you can see how Android TV still needs to grow. The platform is dominant only in Asia, where it has 51% of the market, but lags behind competitors in all other scenarios.
In the United States, Canada and Mexico, the share is just 3% and the market is dominated by Roku’s 41%. Google had announced US growth of nearly 80%, but that might not mean much in real terms if its installed base is too small. It remains to be seen whether the Chromecast strategy could propel Google’s software to become the leader in the smart TV segment.
