If Apple is indeed planning to make its own HDTV as many pundits are predicting, next year might be a great time to enter the market. The number of TV sets connected to the Internet will reach 551 million by 2016, up from 124 million at end-2010, according to new data from Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com).
This translates to 20% of global TV sets by 2016, up from only 6% at end-2010, notes the research group. Despite all of this rapid growth, only 8.9% of global TV sets will be connected to the Internet by 2016.
However, this is up from a mere 1.4% at end-2010. Proportions will vary considerably from one country to the next, with South Korea the market leader in 2016 (boasting 15.0% penetration), according to Research and Markets.
— Dennis Sellers