European Custom Installer

System Integration for the Connected Home

Home Theaters Increasingly Need Broadband

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Consumers want access to PC and broadband content from the home theater, says NPD Group’s Connected Home Theater report.

The study found 17% of consumers are interested in accessing PC content from their home entertainment system (25% for consumers with a home network).

Overall, 19% of consumers want broadband access from their TVs (24% for consumers with a home network).

“[Faster] Internet access, new content sources, and the evolution of the PC as a multimedia repository promise to change the features and functionality of devices in the home entertainment center,” says Ross Rubin, for The NPD Group. “This in turn will lead to new opportunities and challenges for manufacturers, as well as more choices, and possibly greater confusion, for consumers.”

The study found that 44% of consumers are looking to consumer-electronics manufacturers for connected theater products—only 32% to PC companies.

Go NPD on Broadband Home Theatre