New consumer research from Parks Associates reveals Roku is increasing its lead in the streaming media player landscape. As of Q1 2017, 37% of streaming media players owned by U.S. broadband households are Roku devices, up from one-third in Q1 2016. The firm’s latest industry report Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms shows this increase in share of installed base puts Roku further ahead of its main competitors Amazon, Google, and Apple.
“Roku emerged early as a U.S. market leader for streaming media players, and the company has held firmly to that position,” said Glenn Hower, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Higher-priced devices, such as the Apple TV, have not been able to keep up with low-priced and readily available Roku devices, which can be found at Walmart for as low as $29.99.”
According to Parks Associates, of the other major players in this market, only Amazon’s Fire TV had an increase in its share of installed base during the same timeframe. Amazon increased its share from 16% to 24% of streaming media players owned by U.S. broadband households, which moved the e-tailer ahead of Google for second place in streaming media player adoption. Google’s Chromecast now holds an 18% share of installed base, while Apple’s share fell to 15%.
“One-third of U.S. broadband households own a streaming media player,” Hower said. “The growth of the U.S. OTT market provided consumers with unprecedented ease of access to video content. These streaming media devices make for quick and easy access to the top OTT libraries.”
Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms examines how the CE industry has migrated from producing and distributing hardware to distributing OTT content and leveraging advertising models. It discusses the impact of the shift on the industry as well as industry progress in benefiting from the new business models. It also assesses the transition from hardware to software as more content is streamed from the cloud and the impact on CE devices such as streaming media players and gaming consoles. Additional research the report shows:
- 45% of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV.
- Parks Associates estimates 15.6 million smart speakers with personal digital assistants were sold in the U.S. in 2016.
- Nearly one-half of all U.S. broadband households own a gaming console.
