In the next five years, electronics retailer Flanco estimates that “social” TVs will be the main type of TVs purchased by Romanians. Romanians spend on average over four hours a day watching TV, but at the same time, they are social networks enthusiasts, averaging over four hours surfing the internet, according to the company.

One of the major international tendencies making its presence felt in Romania is social TV: real-time communication on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google Talks, etc.), directly via the TV, using dedicated applications (widgets). Social TV features can be found in manufacturers specifications under the names Smart TV and Internet TV.

According to statistics, in Romania there are about five million Facebook accounts and 50,000 Twitter accounts and users of such networks are usually the first to take up social TV technology. The social TV segment in 2010 was almost nonexistent and the increasing popularity of TVs with internet connectivity technology was highly visible in in 2011. The share of this segment is currently  about 15 percent of the flat screen TV market.

Flanco owns 77 stores in Romania. Earlier in February, Flanco announced a planned new retail concept, and is hiring 100 new employees as a result. Flanco is majority owned by Asesoft Web, owned by Iulian Stanciu and Sebastian Ghita.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com

photo source: sxc.hu