Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Wall Street isn’t sure Roku can lead cord cutters to the promised land

One of the secrets of Roku's success has been its expansion beyond its roots as a set top box maker (a term the company tries to avoid). To do this, Roku CEO Anthony Wood built a loyal customer following by moving the company away from only selling its own boxes, instead now licensing its software to TV makers, so they can ship screens with the company's streaming TV platform built-in. This is a much higher margin business than selling streaming hardware, and almost one-third of so-called smart TVs sold last year included Roku's software.

Roku has also developed and licensed streaming programming of its own, backed by advertising. The Roku Channel, available on all its platforms, was 2019's most popular ad-backed streaming channel, ahead of rivals Pluto TV and Crackle, according to market research firm Parks Associates. That's another business that yields higher margins than producing set top boxes.

From the article "Wall Street isn’t sure Roku can lead cord cutters to the promised land" by Aaron Pressman.

Previously In The News

The Internet of Medical Things Gold Rush (And My Grandfather's Wooden Leg)

Equally important is the demand side of the equation, symbolized by an aging population with high rates of chronic disease. According to Parks Associates, nearly half of U.S. households with broadband...

Can We Outsmart Technology In The Race To Smarter Homes?

Right now, consumer use is all over the map. Homeowners lose interest in some technologies in a matter of months, and with others, like speakers and Google Home, usage doesn’t pick up until after the...

Roku Shares Skyrocket Due to Impressive Streaming Numbers

So far, Roku has been able to keep its lead as the top video streaming device maker. In May, for instance, research firm Parks Associates said Roku was the market leader in the Internet video streamin...

Apple TV App To Get A Second Life With Video Subscription Service

The company updated the infrastructure, upgrading its Apple TV device that brings internet video to the living room screen in the fall of 2017 to add support for cinematic 4K video and make it easier...