Samsung to focus on delivering more Video Content on SMART TV’s

Last year, YouTube was the most used application on Samsung’s SMART TV in the GCC. According to recent consumer research by Samsung, there has been a remarkable 40 percent video application usage rate in the Gulf region; highlighting a regional trend that video based applications and video content are dominating Smart TV consumer usage habits. 

Samsung has recently extended its Video content offering to consumers in the region by partnering with Al Jazeera News and Istikana, providing a wider variety of infotainment video content for its users. SMART TV Video apps are increasing in popularity in the region; Samsung’s TV division expects that this trend will continue into 2013. The recent research conducted by Samsung highlighted that of the total time spent using SMART TV applications, 88 percent of the respondents time is being dedicated to video streaming and audio calling, almost 90 minutes a day. 

Global video usage trends support Samsung’s findings. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index VNI Forecast (2011-2016)*, which  is used to forecast and analyze Internet Protocol (IP) networking growth and trends worldwide, states that by 2016, 1.2 million video minutes  will travel the internet every second. 

According to Samsung’s consumers, the most popular features of the Samsung SMART TV’s last year include making calls on Skype, streaming YouTube videos, web browsing and spending time on social networking sites such as Facebook. 

““Regional awareness of Video apps has increased at a rapid pace since we made YouTube, Vimeo, Al Jazeera News and Istikana available on the Samsung’s SMART TV. As per global trends, we anticipate the demand for video content on SMART TVs will increase in the region, which is why Samsung’s focus for this year will be to launch a variety of international, local and children’s video content, as we enable our users to utilize their SMART TVs in different ways.” said Mr. Vinod Nair, General Manager, CTV Business at Samsung Gulf Electronics. 

The study also highlighted SMART TV consumer’s buying habits, announcing that 81 percent of respondents stated that the highest motivator of purchasing a SMART TV was ‘its ability to make video calls on large premium display screen’. The ability to download news, social networking platforms, games and video/audio streaming applications’ and the ability to browse the internet also played an important part in influencing their decision to buy a SMART TV.