While barely a fraction of the size of the market for smartphones and tablets, the internet-connected TV market is growing, and — surprise — Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the market share leader. Competitors in the set-top box market include Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), Roku Inc., and Boxee Inc. There are even a couple of unusual suspects: disk driver makers Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) and Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX).
That’s according to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics that forecasts 2011 set-top box sales at 12 million units, double the total sold in 2010. Apple is expected to sell about one-third of those units. According to Strategy Analytics’ Jia Wu:
As Apple prepares for its expected launch of smart TVs in 2012, rival platforms must accelerate their development plans to keep Apple from running away with the connected TV business, as it has done in smartphones and digital music.
Apple’s strongest competition is likely to come from Google and Sony, both of which, like Apple, are working on integrated Internet connectivity in a TV set, and Microsoft, which is working on giving Xbox owners Internet TV access.
It’s wise to keep in mind that there are more than 50 million Xbox 360s already sold and more than half are connected to Xbox Live. Microsoft may actually be the leader here, at least in potential.
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