The internet-enabled television (IETV) market is finally ready for prime time, with sales set to rise by a factor of six by 2013, according to iSuppli.
More than 85 IETV models already line the shelves of retail stores in the US alone, iSuppli said.
The current-generation products will see far more success than prior offerings such as webTV, which failed despite having access to the full force of Microsoft's resources, the researchers added.
“WebTV has been a product and service that never quite lived up to its hype,” iSuppli senior analyst Randy Lawson said. “Because of this some might be wondering if IETV is simply a case of déjà vu all over again.”
But a number of new factors are now in play, he said. The most significant was probably the increased consumer adoption of 30 Mbps and faster VDSL and fiber-to-the-home technologies, which offer speeds three orders of magnitude higher than the speeds supported by webTV.
Improved video compression algorithms, the increasing prevalence of flat-panel televisions and the arrival of internet-video services will also serve to make the technology more attractive to consumers, Lawson added.