IMS Report Explores Android Convergence Opportunity

There will be an installed base of 140m Android portable devices, including smartphones and tablets, by the end of 2011, according to IMS Research forecasts. The market intelligence firm says the recent unveiling of Google’s Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system for tablets, along with enhancements to Android Market, will do much to enhance growth prospects for this segment.

“This provides an exciting opportunity for pay-TV operators, which have traditionally been tethered to the living room, to expand the reach of their brands to multiple portable platforms with apps development,” says Anna Hunt, principal analyst and author of IMS Research’s Convergence in Home Entertainment report. “In total, Apple OS and Android OS were present in nearly 125m connected devices shipped in 2010, and this is only expected to increase in 2011. Such reach into consumers’ hands means more operators will be developing apps that enable subscribers to purchase and consume content on new portable platforms and explore new convergence applications, such as controlling your on-demand service on the TV set via the smartphone.”

IMS Research’s Convergence in Home Entertainment report provides global coverage of 23 end equipment markets. The report examines the dynamics of convergence in the home theatre devices, portable CE and home networking equipment categories.