The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) announced that it is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
For more information visit: www.dlna.org
Unedited press release follows:
The Digital Living Network Alliance Marks Tenth Anniversary with More Than Two Billion Certified Units Sold
Alliance Celebrates Decade of Global Standards Development and Certification for Connected Digital Living; Identifies Key Industry Challenges Ahead
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA®) is celebrating a decade of enabling consumers to connect and enjoy their music, videos and photos from any DLNA Certified® product. Hundreds of multi-industry companies from around the world have joined DLNA to support a shared vision of digital interoperability, where consumers can confidently choose compatible products and content sources from a range of service providers and manufacturers, today as well as in the future.
“DLNA is widely recognized as the standard for interoperability between networked home and mobile entertainment devices,” noted Nidhish Parikh, chairman and president of DLNA. “Alliance guidelines have been adopted by both the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as standards for connectivity. We are well positioned to address upcoming industry challenges as consumers adopt new content storage and sharing habits that make interoperability across a wide range of devices, applications and services even more important.”
Growth of DLNA Certified® Products
New research from industry analyst firm Parks Associates highlights DLNA’s deep reach into consumers’ digital lifestyles. With two billion DLNA Certified® products already purchased by consumers, the firm projects a total of three billion products will be sold globally by 2014 with a further increase to five billion by 2016.
“DLNA continues to be an important industry standard for the connected home, and new additions to the guidelines are likely to increase DLNA’s influence in the future,” said Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks Associates. “Sales of DLNA Certified® products will see significant growth in upcoming years, exceeding the rate of growth of non-certified products in several categories.”
Additional Parks Associates’ findings in each of the fastest growing DLNA product categories include:
• The projected compounded annual growth (CAGR) of global DLNA Certified® device shipments exceeds those of corresponding non-DLNA Certified® devices in almost all product categories. Unit volume is highest in smartphones, tablets, computers, and smart TVs.
• Overall sales of DLNA Certified® devices across all categories will grow at an annual rate of 15 percent through 2018.
• Driven by the increase in video consumption on mobile devices, smartphones are the highest volume global market for DLNA Certified® products, with 264 million DLNA Certified® smartphones sold during 2013.
Looking Forward to the Industry Challenges Ahead
DLNA has identified a number of key trends and industry challenges for 2014 and beyond that will require a continuing focus on specifications that meet an evolving connected lifestyle. These specifications will leverage the broadly adopted foundation DLNA has established over the past 10 years. Industry trends and challenges include:
• New types of entertainment applications and services that will impact the sales, features and interoperability requirements of products including set-top boxes, gateways and televisions, as well as smartphones, computers and tablets.
• The implications of the cloud for the connected lifestyle.
• Emerging digital platforms including the connected car.
“DLNA continues to build on its guidelines to create greater consumer engagement across DLNA Certified® devices,” continued Parikh. “DLNA has already built the strong guidelines framework needed to address new and emerging industry trends. We will continue to advance DLNA to accommodate ongoing changes in the market. These efforts, combined with an ever-growing list of members committed to furthering the Alliance’s mission, are laying the groundwork for another successful decade of innovation and interoperability.”
To access the complete Parks Associates “DLNA Market Overview 2013” report, please visit: http://www.dlna.org/dlna-for-industry/newsroom/parks-associates-report-2013.
About DLNA
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a technology standards organization driven to build industry consensus to advance the interoperability of products in consumers’ connected homes. Founded in 2003 with a current membership of more than 250 companies, this unique multi-industry collaboration continues to implement an innovative set of guidelines utilized by service providers, electronics manufacturers, and software developers to provide consistent performance in a connected home environment. Consumers can share and enjoy personal and premium content, regardless of manufacturer, on a wide variety of products including mobile devices, PCs, set top boxes, AV receivers, game consoles, TVs and more. DLNA has also created a robust certification program which tests and verifies the interoperability of products built to its standards, ensuring consumers that devices branded with the DLNA Certified® mark will successfully connect and exchange content. Additional information about the Alliance is available at www.dlna.org. Find DLNA on Facebook at facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter @DLNA.