Pundits Declare OTT Dongles 'Dead' Following Samsung NewFront Presentation

By Daniel Frankel
( NextTV )
last updated

One billion smart TVs will be sold in the next four years, according to Evan Shapiro, and not one of them will need an HDMI stick or hockey puck to connect to the internet

Evan Shapiro's presentation at the Samsung NewFronts
Evan Shapiro, the self-proclaimed 'unofficial cartographer' of the media business, spoke Tuesday at Samsung's NewFront presentation in New York. (Image credit: Alan Wolk via Twitter)

The dongle is dying, declares oft-quoted media business pundit Evan Shapiro.

Rolling through a deck during Samsung's NewFront presentation in New York Tuesday, the former Seeso chief (among many other video biz titles) showed a slide that caught the attention of other video-industry gadflies on Twitter. 

According to Shapiro, 61% of U.S. streaming video consumers are using connected smart TVs to stream vs. only 39% using HDMI dongles and hockey-puck-style players. And that disparity is only predicted to grow in the coming years.

Elaborating on his presentation after his slide got retweeted by TV[R]EV analyst and Next TV contributor Alan Wolk, Shapiro wrote that 1 billion smart TVs will be sold over the next four years. Not one of them, he noted, will need a dongle to connect to the internet.

"As fun as it is to say the word 'dongle,' in five years we won’t ever need to *again," Shapiro tweeted, including an asterisk to exempt "Boomer"-age consumers from this prediction.

Shapiro's declaration was seconded by LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield, who re-tweeted it with the hashtag, #goodluckdongles. ■

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!