Amazon new CTV leader in record year for market

CTV devices reached a new peak of 109.1 million in Q4 2020 with a new top seller.

According to Strategy Analytics, Amazon overtook Samsung to become the market leader for the first time in its history. The company, which launched a new range of Fire TV streaming devices towards the end of the year, saw a significant quarter-over-quarter increase of 45% to 13.2 million unit sales. As such, Amazon held a 12.1% share of the CTV market.

Samsung continued a steady increase in device sales to 11.9 million, up from 11.7 million in Q3. The company had no major TV device products launch in the quarter, making its conservative growth unsurprising. 

Sony however launched its PlayStation 5 games console in November, a move which saw it remain in third place in the chart with 9 million sales. This represented a quarterly increase of 116%, with the company amassing 8.2% of the market. Microsoft, which launched its new Xbox consoles, saw an even greater jump of 275% to 4.8 million sales. This jump however is arguably less significant, as the company’s only CTV devices are its games consoles while Sony also produces TVs.

Overall, 2020 sales of connected TV devices (smart TVs, streamers, games consoles) reached 305.3 million units, an annual increase of 7.6%. Smart TVs made up 186 million of that total, while media streamers were at 81 million – both records.

David Watkins, director, TV Streaming Platforms, at Strategy Analytics said: “Q4 is always a strong period for home entertainment products, and in spite of the pandemic 2020 didn’t disappoint. Demand for connected TV devices remained strong throughout the holiday period as consumers in most major economies preferred to enjoy streaming video services on their big screens.”

Edouard Bouffenie, senior analyst, Strategy Analytics said: “Amazon has had great success with its Fire TV Stick 4K, which became the world’s best-selling digital media streamer device in 2020. However, the market remains fragmented overall and there is still a long way to go in the battle to build global-scale TV streaming platforms during the 2020s.”