Total spending on streaming services and software is expected to reach a record $112 billion in 2021 (up 11% over 2020), with streaming services accounting for more than a third of that figure.
That is according to the Consumer Technology Association's new biannual survey, "U.S. Consumer Technology One-Year Industry Forecast," based on shipments to the U.S. of over 300 tech products.
Of that $112 billion, $41 billion is video streaming service-related spending (SVOD--Netflix, Disney Plus and live TV streaming--fubo, Sling).
CTA said that $41 billion projection is because exclusive content--increasingly, new services are clawing back content for their own platforms, and cord-cutting are driving multiple subscriptions per household. That 41% is up 15% over 2020.
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On the gaming side, the report predicts the pandemic-sheltered populace will continue to play online games more than ever, both as entertainment and social connection.
CTA predicts the "video game software and services category" will hit $47 billion in revenue, up 8% from 2020.
And with TV's doubling for movie screens in a era of shuttered theaters, CTA predicts that households will continue to upgrade TV sets, as they did in 2020, a record year for set shipments.
CTA predicts some drop-off, of 8% to 43 million units in 2021, that would still be the second highest volume on record, with revenues declining just 1% to $22 billion. A big growth area, literally, CTA said, is TV's over 70 inches which it predicts will be up 6% to 3.3 million units, and 8K sets, up a whopping 300% to 1.7 million units.
