Delivering to the linear pay-TV industry a rather conclusive marker as to what devices companies should be developing OTT and multiscreen apps for, Parks Associates said that Roku now controls 37% of the market for streaming players in the U.S.
Roku’s market control rose from 30% in the first quarter of 2016. By comparison, Amazon OTT devices grew from 16% to 24% over the same one-year span. Google’s Chromecast ended Q1 in 18% of OTT device homes, while Apple TV is in only 15% of U.S. domiciles.
Parks estimates that about one-third of U.S. homes overall have at least one streaming player.
"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 for 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."
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The latest Parks report, “Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms,” also reveals that 45% of U.S. broadband homes have a smart TV.
Meanwhile, nearly half of U.S. broadband homes have a gaming console.
"The growth of the U.S. OTT market provided consumers with unprecedented ease of access to video content,” Hower added. “These streaming media devices make for quick and easy access to the top OTT libraries."