Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. today announced that Samsung Apps, the world's first application store for the television, has reached its two millionth TV application download globally. The milestone is the latest in Samsung's Smart TV category leadership, which was on full display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. Samsung reached the 2 million mark within a year of the launch of Samsung Apps and the number of apps downloaded has doubled since November, when it reached one million downloads.
Samsung Apps allows users to purchase and download applications from a wide variety of content and service providers, directly from their Smart TVs. Samsung Apps boasts around 380 applications designed for Smart TV, of which 259 are free. The store is currently available in 120 countries around the world.
"This achievement and the short period in which it was achieved demonstrate the rapidly growing popularity of applications and content for Smart TVs," said Mr. Sangchul Lee, Senior Vice President of Samsung's Visual Display Business. "Samsung's leadership role in this category has paid off and allowed us to provide new experiences for consumers that are more rich and integrated than any before."
Interest in applications on Smart TV increased at a tremendous pace during the holiday season. When Samsung Apps reached one million downloads in November, it had been just 268 days since the store's launch. The two million-mark was reached just 53 days later.
Some of the most frequently downloaded applications from Samsung Apps are YouTube, Hulu Plus, ESPN Next Level, AccuWeather, Google Maps and Texas Holdem, showcasing global demand for Samsung Smart TV entertainment experiences across popular consumer hobby areas - sports, movies and gaming. After reaching one million downloads, consumers have downloaded an average of 100,000 applications every five days.
To spur Smart TV innovation, Samsung is also working closely with the developer community to bring new applications to the Samsung Apps library. Throughout 2010, Samsung held "Free the TV Developer Days" around the world, bringing together developers and notable leaders across the connected TV ecosystem to discuss and plan for the next era of Smart TV. Accompanying the Developer Days were contests such as the "Free the TV Challenge" (http://www.freethetvchallenge.com/) in the United States, which announced its winners earlier this month at CES.
"The developer community is a critical component to maintaining the momentum and growth of Samsung Apps for the TV," said Mr. Kyungshik Kevin Lee, Vice President of Samsung's Visual Display Business. "These talented individuals will bring depth and personalization to an environment built initially with our industry-leading partners."
Samsung announced a series of high-level partnerships during a keynote address by Visual Display Business President Boo-Keun Yoon, including alliances with cable television leaders Comcast and Time Warner as well as online video leaders Hulu and Adobe.
