As of the midway point of 2016, more than 8 million 4K Ultra HD TVs have been sold in the U.S., and second quarter sales were up 120% compared to a year ago, a good sign for a home entertainment industry looking toward 4K to boost physical and digital content sales, according to a new report from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.
Nearly 1.5 million 4K UHD TVs were sold during the quarter, while consumers purchased approximately 288,000 4K Blu-ray Disc copies of the 45-plus titles Hollywood studios have released on the next-gen format.
For the second quarter, home entertainment spending jumped 6% to $4.3 billion, with Blu-ray Disc sales up 35%. Sellthrough of digital and physical content combined was $1.7 billion, up 4%, while digital sellthrough alone grew 9%.
Related: NBC Announces 4K Plans for Rio Olympics
HDTV household penetration now stands at 95%, or 104.1 million homes with at least one set, while Blu-ray player household penetration has hit 85 million.
The bad news: spending on content rentals at both physical stores and online combined was down 6.5% to $1.2 billion.
Related: Microsoft Undercuts Others with $299 UHD Blu-ray-Capable Xbox
