Android Market data suggests under a million Google TV 2.0 upgrades

9to5 Staff | Feb 29 2012 - 10:10 am PT

Google and its partners do not divulge Google TV sales data. This makes figuring just how many Sony Google TV units and Logitech Revue boxes there are in the wild anyone’s guess. According to GigaOM, less than a million of Google TV 2.0 devices by Sony and Logitech are in active use. The publication came to this number by observing Google’s own install data in Android Market for the Movies & TV app for the Google TV platform. This program is part of the Google TV 2.0 software update, so it gives a clue on the number of Google TVs:

The active install base for this app, according to Google’s Android Market, currently is 500,000 to 1 million. The same is true for all the other apps that come pre-installed with Google TV, which suggests that the number of Google TV devices that are currently being used by consumers is less than 1 million.

There is a problem with GigaOM’s logic, however, as it is assuming everyone updated to the Google TV 2.0 software. The update is available to all Google TV 1.0 devices, but many folks might not have upgraded. They either do not care or their set-top box is sitting in the trashcan not being used at all…

The publication’s data provides another interesting insight: Of the 500,000 to 1 million Google TV units, Logitech devices make up for 50 to 70 percent of the installed base. The rest is split between Sony’s Blu-ray players and Google TVs. Whichever way you look at it, the Google TV platform is off to a solid start, but it still has a long way ahead until it hits the ground running. For comparison, Apple sold just shy of 3 million Apple TVs during 2011 and 1 million during the holiday quarter of last year.

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