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.
As predicted, very few people wanted to pay up. According to Parks Associates, YouTube Premium – which includes Music Premium – no longer ranks among the top 10 streaming services in the US. Com...
The smart home is expanding beyond lights, locks, and thermostats to include new products such as smart beds, mirrors, and appliances. “Smart Home Adjacencies: Building the Ecosystem,” a new report fr...
Awareness and adoption of smart home products by everyday consumers has finally reached mass-market acceptance. According to Parks Associates, 48 percent of U.S. households with broadband intend to bu...
From May 21-23, more than 600 executives from around the world gathered in San Francisco for the 23rd annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, hosted by leading IoT research firm Par...
