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Why Smart TVs Fail To Score With Consumers in the African Markets

You may not have been surprised to hear about Apple’s reluctance towards the manufacturing of a television with its brand embossed on it. Plus, there aren’t many people looking forward to such a launch anyways. As a recent consumer research report conducted by GfK indicated, connected TVs have been providing much more profits within the markets of Brazil, India, and China when compared to the developed African markets. With only 11% penetration in the United States, China is leading more sophisticated markets through a high usage of 44%.  

GfK’s consumers are categorized within the second category, trapped within a mindset that’s purely analogue. Consumers within these latter markets are huge users of different gadgets as well, attaining a similar experience to Smart TVs without having to spend loads of cash over an expensive set of connected TV. 

Starting from providers of pay-TV and satellite tv providers to set top boxes and consoles like the PlayStation, Roku, and Xbox also provide connected and on-demand services to users by making use of their television sets. Devices like PCs, smart phones and tablets, which are further appropriate for interactivity, have also been recognized as some of the quickest-growing devices used for viewing videos. 

And of course, there’s the ever increasing trend of multi-screens where users utilize two devices at once in order to avail themselves with a simultaneous lean-forward/lean-backward experience. Plus, there’s always the price issue. Purchasing a smart TV can cost you around $200 or more (this includes the basic set that doesn’t provide you with a much better screen than the cheaper version). 

China’s supremacy in the category of connected TV stems from a NPD report stating that the country’s urban population relies mostly on satellite TV providers and video content online, across a majority of the devices pertaining to other groups of regional consumers

According to the research, the demand for the various features offered by many connected TVs are not desired that much by users. Barely 28% of the total respondents agreed to the fact that programs were more interesting due to the interactivity. Another 25% agreed that tweeting, along with various commenting formats made the experience quite interesting. This specific study comprised of 7,000 interviews in total, coming from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Mexico, China, Brazil, Belgium, South Korea, Turkey, India, USA, and the UK with five hundred from each country. 

Furthermore, users that found services helpful lead to the provision of more information on programs which fare better than others. Around 33% additional viewers looked for information through the shows that they watch instead of making use of the social networks for sharing information with their friends.

In markets where the effects of PCs are low, smart TVs fare better as with mobile phones where most of their functions are fulfilled in comparison to the PC. Around 75% of the smart TV owners in China made use of their TV’s visual interactive features throughout the previous month as compared to the African markets where the average figures were partially less. This also interprets into the intention of buying as well among the consumers in the UK and USA where the numbers were 26% and 29% respectively, whereas in India and China, the numbers were 61% and 64% respectively. 

Thus, this may be the perfect time for hitting the iron while it’s hot, as Apple has effectively shaped an entirely new market dedicated to smart phones which created the principal environment for business users and rather early adopters prior to the introduction of the iPhone. The same could be done for televisions as GfK reported smart TV sales going up by 31% within the first two quarters of the year within 6 of the biggest economies in Europe. 

Users can become interested in newer features or some other additional pro offered by satellite TVs. But no matter what decision you make, be sure to run a comparison of cable and satellite tv providers to see which works out cheaper, there are a number of sites you can use such as this one which will do all the work for you. As it is and always has been, it is all about your level of satisfaction and entertainment within the limits of your budget. 

Author Bio

Celina  is a frequent blogger of topics associated with satellite tv providers, owning her own tech shop in the States. She believes that You should always run a comparison of cable and satellite TV providers to see which works out cheaper, there are a number of sites you can use such as http://www.highspeed-internet.com/ which will do all the work for you.

 

About author

Editor at TechArena. I cover all things technology and review new gadgets as I get them. You can reach me on email: kaluka@techarena.co.ke