Worldwide shipments of consumer-electronics devices capable of supporting Internet video are projected to rise by nearly a factor of five from 2009 to 2013, according to research firm iSuppli.
The firm forecast that 376.5 million devices supporting Internet video will be shipped annually by 2013, up from 80.5 million in 2008. The devices include televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray DVD players, videogame consoles and dedicated video platforms.
"The expansion of broadband Internet access from home computers to other devices including [set-top boxes] has opened up a world of new possibilities for supporting Internet video via streaming and downloads," said iSuppli analyst Sheri Greenspan in a statement. "More importantly, the public is demanding this type of content on a wider variety of platforms. However, they want this content to be easily available, and they want it to be of the same video quality as the programming on their living room televisions."
