The market for PCs as digital hubs in living rooms to explode at 41% CAGR
Today's
shipment levels of PCs that serve as digital hubs in living room
entertainment systems remain too low to be a factor in the overall
consumer PC market. However, shipments of media center-equipped PCs are
increasing at a phenomenal rate, according
to IDC. In 2006, 5.85 million media center PCs will ship worldwide.
These systems will have the software and hardware necessary to qualify as
media center units, with both the media center operating environment and
combined TV tuner and remote control. The value of this market
is estimated at nearly $6 billion, with the U.S.
market accounting for 46.3% of the total.
The past two months have seen a series of movie download deals involving AOL with Intel, Amazon with six major movie studios, and others, bringing the personal computer closer than ever to a more defined media-centric role. These deals also give consumers another compelling reason to own media-capable PCs. Media center capabilities are seen as value-added features that enable PCs to function as mini entertainment systems in addition to their role as Web surfing, email, productivity tools, and increasingly as Voice-over-IP solutions. IDC believes that the success of media center PCs will be closely linked to the wider availability of content that is now being pushed to consumers. The potential for that success is evidenced by iTunes' sale of 125,000 Disney movies in the first six days of its service offering.
