In the Netflix quarterly earnings report published Wednesday, the company said that the relatively new Apple TV has now surpassed the iPad in Netflix viewing hours.
In the report, Netflix described the relative popularity of the various supported devices: “The devices with large installed bases – meaning Windows and Mac laptops, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo Wii — are the most popular devices for watching instantly from Netflix. AppleTV has done very well for us, and in just four months has passed the also-growing iPad in Netflix viewing hours. The Roku player remains a strong performer.”
Apple introduced the revamped Apple TV on 1 September 2010 with Netflix support while Netflix support for the iPad was available immediately after the iPad launched back in April 2010. In late December 2010, Apple confirmed that they had sold a million units of the new Apple TV in just three months. Despite the iPad’s head start, and over 14 million iPads sold in 2010, the Apple TV is now a more popular device on which to watch Netflix.
That wouldn’t seem to be a surprise given that about half of American households now have at least one HDTV, and the Netflix viewing experience on those large screens is much more satisfactory, especially for multiple viewers.