Set-Top Box fades out of the historical stage

In the year, Android TV (the Android TV platform launched by Google) is both interesting and old. Where will Android TV develop in the future? It is difficult for us to draw a conclusion. For example, in the past 12 months, the Android TV market has indeed shown an expansion, but from some perspectives the market is shrinking.
One thing is clear: in the past 12 months, the software has changed a lot, and now Android TV can use more and more apps and services, much more than a year ago. From the perspective of user experience, Android TV has made great progress in 2016, and 2017 will become better. Looking back at the real issue in 2016 is: How does the hardware market manage itself?

Xiaomi Mi Box
While the new Android TV interface adds many options, hardware is another. There are indeed some new hardware appearing this year, but consumers are not particularly fond of it and have not completely exceeded their expectations.

For example, in the TV set-top box market, only one important device was launched this year (at least in the US), it is Xiaomi Mi Box.

Mi Box is competitively priced compared to other products, which is good news.

For consumers, if they don't want to spend too much money on Android TV, just want to try the new platform, Xiaomi products are worth choosing. Simply put, Mix Box “creates” a very good device for Android TV, which is good for the entire marke

Sony Android TV

There are many Android TVs launched this year. At the 2016 CES show, Sony brought the new 4K Android TV, which was already available to users. In the statement, Sony told users that there will be many new models available, each with different sizes to choose from. As a result, the number of Android TVs that can be selected in 2016 has increased rapidly, and they can meet the different needs of consumers and cover different price points.

RCA Android TV

In April, RCA announced that many of the company's Android TVs will be available, and there are many more TVs with Android operating systems. This matter is very important, because RCA's TV is much cheaper than Sony and Sharp TV. Like Mi Box, because of the arrival of RCA TV, there is a relatively powerful entry-level Android TV on the market. In fact, the cheapest RCA TV is only $499.99. Users can access the Android TV platform via TV, and the price is very attractive.

LeTV Android TV

Near the end of the year, LeEco held its first product launch in the United States. Since then, LeEco has officially entered the US market, and it has brought its own Android TV.

Although LeTV has only launched 4 different models, one of them is very small and one is very large. RCA adds to the entry-level TV market, and LeEco brings new products to both extreme markets.

The LeTV Super4 X43 Pro TV is priced at $649, which is quite cheap. If you want to choose a better TV, check out uMax 85. Although the uMax 85 is priced at $4,999, it is worth the money because it is well configured.

The uMax 85 is equipped with an 84.5-inch screen with a resolution of 3840x2160 (4K Ultra-HD), 4GB of running memory, 64GB of body memory, a Mstar 6A938 processor, and a Harman Kardon speaker. LeTV has entered the high-end Android TV market with this TV.

Ephemeral
Of course, in 2016, there were also many products that were “casualty and death”. At the beginning of the year, one thing became more and more obvious: Android TV set-top boxes began to disappear from the stage.

By May 2016, Google confirmed that it no longer produces Nexus Player. Since then, although the product manufacturers have not confirmed the news of the suspension, but we gradually found that the set-top box that was popular in 2015 was slowly discontinued.

Now Razer Forge TV and NVIDIA SHIELD are not available. Although the manufacturer did not confirm the product suspension, they essentially left the market, just like the Nexus Player. There is no new Android TV set-top box listed, this is a more obvious alarm. After the disappearance of Nexus Player, Forge TV and NVIDIA SHIELD, Mi Box became the only Android set-top box available in the US market.
to sum up

Looking back over the past year, there are many new products on the TV market. These products are launched regularly and new products are released throughout the year. This is important because Android TV is a new market and is expanding, and it can keep growing.

Sony launched a new product in January, RCA is scheduled for April, and October is LeTV. Throughout the year, the company continued to introduce new products, and the products were good. In comparison, the TV set-top box market is a bit desolate, which is why we will make a final conclusion for Android TV in 2016: this year is the year that Android TV dominates.

Android TV has embedded features, and Google believes that embedding is the direction of development. TVs with Android TV operating systems are the main driver of platform expansion, and such TVs can appeal to consumers who don't know Android TV.

Although third-party manufacturers will continue to launch Android TV set-top boxes, for now, set-top boxes do not seem to be valued by everyone.

Loading Android TV into a brand TV will undoubtedly promote the development of the entire platform. This will not only improve the popularity of Android TV, but also consolidate the status of Android TV, making it the preferred TV operating system.

In terms of configuration and performance, consumers may still have to make compromises. Generally speaking, many TVs with Android TV operating system cannot be compared with independent TV set-top boxes in performance.

In short, Android TV has performed well in the past year. In 2016, the Android TV market is definitely expanding, and the software is particularly progressing. More and more TV sets are installed for the Android TV operating system. However, the Android TV set-top box has suffered a setback, and the market is shrinking. Compared with a year ago, there are fewer products to choose from. If the rumor is true, NVIDIA SHIELD will appear at CES and the situation may change. Of course, even if this happens, it’s 2017, it’s not related to the upcoming 2016.