We are in the multimedia phase of home networking that has begun to blend in networked consumer electronics (CE) devices, or networked media devices. However, the market has been trying to move past the early adopter stage toward the mainstream, networked digital home.But, this has not been occurring very quickly. Although our consumer research shows that there has been progress made, the majority of consumers still only use their home network for Internet sharing.

Microsoft, Intel, AMD, and others have taken steps toward enabling this next phase by creating platforms and ecosystems designed to make digital content consumption easier for digital video, photos, and music by using devices they are familiar with, like TVs and stereos.

Worldwide forecasts through 2011 for each market segment are provided, from consumer PCs to non-PC network-enabled stationary media devices. Each forecast provides network-enabled units and segmentations for wired only and wireless. Included is the worldwide installed base of home networks and those networks with PC and CE devices. Details are provided for PCs with a Media Center-enabled OS, basic media servers, PCs with a Media Center-enabled OS plus TV tuner, non-PC devices with embedded media servers (e.g., set top boxes, digital media adapters/digital media receivers, network storage, etc.), and total media server-capable devices. Consumer survey results related to digital home multimedia networking are also included.