Smart Consumers Ignore Smart TVs (but buy them anyway)

YouGov have released the results of a survey about Smart TVs which confirms that the public aren’t interested in using them to connect to the Internet.

Instead, consumers are plugging their laptop or tablet into their TV or using their set-top box with

their TV screen to get online.

YouGov’s main findings:

50% of UK consumers like the idea of accessing online content

through their televisions

13% of the population

owned a Smart TV in Q1 2013

6% currently use a Smart TV devices as their primary means of accessing online

content

Amongst on-demand viewers, 37% prefer to

watch through a set-top box while 7% watch through a Smart TV

Consumers are connecting their TVs through other

devices, with laptops and desktop computers being

the most popular

The biggest challenge is that consumers don’t buy Smart TVs for their function – 51% were purchased because the consumer wants an up-to-date TV.

Fewer than half of Smart TV owners actually use the set to go online regularly. Any significant revenues the manufacturers hoped to gain from services on the platform don’t exist, at least in the UK.

Here are the Google trends for smart TV related searches in the UK:

Interest has grown over the last few years and Christmas 2012 saw a surge as consumers bought TVs for their Christmas viewing or took advantage of the sales period. However this only demonstrates a trend over time; there’s no indication of volume.

The Google Keyword Tool confirmed that the concept of “Smart TVs” has driven significant search volumes and that is the dominant phrase for describing the product category.

Here are the results from the Google Keyword Tool:

So the public do know what Smart TVs are, are searching for them, and buying them after searching for Smart TV keywords.

However, they are not then using them for the purpose of connecting to the Internet through their built-in features. They’re buying them as they’re good TVs, not Smart TVs.

TV manufacturers have done the job of marketing the concept… …but consumers are the smart ones, using devices

they already own and are familiar with, plugged into their TVs to make them smart