• by Wayne Friedman , September 7, 2018

The NPD Group says the number of new households purchasing all devices will climb only 7% on a compounded growth rate from 2017 through 2021.

At the end of 2017, it says, 210 million devices were installed in consumer homes delivering internet to the TV screen -- and this total will rise to 275 million in 2021. Of that 7% compounded growth rate, smart TVs will make up 49% of that increase, and streaming media players/devices will make up 29%.

U.S. gaming consoles had been the leading internet-connected TV device.

At the end of 2018, the number of streaming media players and smart TVs are expected to surpass gaming consoles. The NPD Group says consumers replace TVs every seven years on average.

In June, the Leichtman Research Group said 74% of U.S. TV homes had at least one connected TV device. Nielsen says there were 119.6 million TV homes for 2017-2018 TV season.

NPD’s research comes from a panel over 5,000 U.S. consumers, aged 18 years and older, with data on more than 12,000 TVs installed within over 34,000 household rooms.