Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Good News, Roku, Streaming Media Is Catching On

Increased familiarity and new entrants into the streaming media market (such as Amazon’s Fire TV) should push adoption of players into 25% of U.S. homes by 2015, according to Parks Associates. Among the popular makers, Roku accounted for nearly one-half (46%) of streaming media players sold in the U.S. last year, while the closest competitor (Apple TV) accounted for only 26%, according to the report.

Usage rates are about the same. Among U.S. broadband households with a streaming media player, 44% use a Roku player the most, compared with 26% using an Apple TV. (The gap has widened in the past year. Previously, 27% of streaming media player owners used a Roku, and 24% used Apple TV.) Roku’s early relationship with Netflix has given it an advantage that continues to carry over, says Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates.

“The first Roku box was called the ‘Netflix player,’” Kraus tells Marketing Daily. “There’s a longstanding relationship with Netflix there, even though Netflix can be found on virtually every streaming media player [now].”

With familiarity and adoption increasing, Apple, which already is the global sales leader in the category (20 million units worldwide as of April 2014 vs. Roku’s 8 million, as of December 2013), will likely look to increase is presence through more marketing and a revamped product, Kraus says. After years of viewing Apple TV as secondary to its smartphones and tablets, Apple is likely to see the value in a streaming product, she says.

“They haven’t put a lot [of marketing] behind it. If you have a ‘hobby’ product, you’re going to give it that level of promotion,” Kraus says. “It’s suddenly become a strong market, with a lot of good companies competing in it. They’ve seen the value of their Apple TV.”

Meanwhile, Amazon, with its 244 million accounts, will also likely make a greater push, showing off how its product can provide exactly what consumers are looking for.

“Roku has built up a lot of goodwill in the market. But Amazon has 240 million active accounts, and 20 million Prime members who use their Prime streaming service,” Kraus says. “They also have the advantage of knowing what features to have in a streaming media player new to the market.”

Though streaming media adoption will continue steadily for the next few years, Kraus anticipates some pressure from the adoption of connected TVs, which provide many of the same services as the streaming media players.

“Their growth will be tempered a bit with increased adoption of connected TVs,” she says. “I anticipate a slow, but steady, growth curve.”

From the article, "Good News, Roku, Streaming Media Is Catching On" by Aaron Baar.  

Previously In The News

Study: Consumers Don't Know What AdChoices Privacy Icon Is

Research from Parks Associates comparing consumer awareness in 2011 to 2013 of the Digital Ad Alliance's AdChoices icon -- the little blue triangle seen primarily in targeted display advertising --...

Apple’s Siri: Loved, But Underused

Parks Associates, a research firm, has released the results from its Apple iPhone Siri Users study, which finds that Siri is primarily used to make phone calls and send text messages. The report fo...

Parks Associates to Present New Energy Research and Preview the 2013 Smart Energy Summit in Webcast on Thursday, February 7

International research firm Parks Associates, host of the annual Smart Energy Summit, will present new research on the markets for residential energy services and management in the webcast "Busines...

Roku Tees Up $12M Holiday Campaign to Compete With Apple TV, Xbox One

Roku need not look far to see the danger. TiVo once had the best brand and best technology in the space, but was reduced to also-ran status by a glut of good-enough DVRs distributed by cable and sa...