Connected devices sales boost for Germany

Media-delivering consumer electronics goods including TVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, smart home audio systems and game consoles led strong growth in the market for networked devices in Germany last year, according to consumer electronics association the GFU.

Overall, the market for networked devices grew by about 9% to reach €4 billion last year, said the GFU, citing figures supplied by GfK.

The second largest segment after CE devices is for home automation and security products, according to the GFU, followed by control and communication devices such as gateways, repeaters and intelligent sockets.

The GFU said the figures underlined the growing importance of internet connectivity, including for media consumption. It said that online content is accessed by 31% of German homes on a regular basis.

It cited its own research which showed 58% of homes accessing mainstream TV stations, on-demand portals, with 48% accessing YouTube and other user-generated content sites.

The GFU said that almost half – 48% – of smart TV users now accessed paid-for on-demand services.