We are a connected nation. According to a research report from the NPD Group, the U.S. now has more connected devices, at 425 million, than people, which number about 311 million. NPD counts connected devices as PCs/laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and Blu-ray players, video game consoles, and OTT streaming players.
The holiday season brings the growth of connected devices into more focus. Christmas 2012 saw a huge spike in connected device activations, which was significantly higher than Christmas 2011, which was itself record breaking. According to market analytics firm Flurry, 17.4 million connected devices were activated on Christmas day 2012, which was 2.5x more activations than the 6.8 million that occurred on Christmas day 2011.
Among all the connected devices discussed, the smaller screen versions, which include smartphones and tablets, have the momentum. “Smaller screens such as the smartphone have the greatest reach now with an estimated 133 million users,” NPD reports in their Connected Intelligence report.
