Roku today rolled out its new Roku Smart Soundbar is a Dolby Audio-enabled speaker that doubles as a 4K video streaming device.
The soundbar includes four drivers – and an optional wireless subwoofer that can be purchased separately – and features like automatic volume leveling and a night mode lowers the volume for louder scenes and raises it for quieter ones. The device is also a 4K HDR capable Roku streaming device with voice command and search functions, including compatibility with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
Both the soundbar and wireless subwoofer are priced at $179.99 each, and are expected to ship in October.
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The new soundbar and subwoofer are not the first audio products released by Roku, a company well-known for producing low-cost streaming devices. Last year, the company came out with wireless speakers designed to work along with Roku TV devices.
The Smart Soundbar happens to be priced at exactly the same cost as the 4K Apple TV (32 GB), again putting into contrast the value offered by Amazon and Roku compared to premium priced Apple TV products that offer similar feature sets.
Roku has used its competitively priced devices along with aggressive smart TV platform licensing deals to rapidly grow its user base. In August, the company said that it has more than 30 million active users.
William Blair analyst Ralph Schackart said that Roku will begin seeing similar phased international growth like Netflix did earlier on its international expansion. He predicted that Roku will reach 80 million active accounts by 2025. William Blair also expects Roku’s platform revenue will grow significantly, and reach $4.5 billion by 2025, amounting to a compound annual growth rate of 16% over that time period. The firm expects that 89% of Roku’s platform revenue will come from the U.S.