Roku Leads Streaming Media Device Sales in the U.S.

DALLAS: A new Parks Associates report on streaming media devices has found that four brands—Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku—accounted for 86 percent of all units sold to U.S. broadband households in 2014.

The research firm's The Streaming Media Device Landscape report estimates that 86 million streaming media devices will be sold globally in 2019. It also finds that nearly 20 percent of U.S. broadband households own at least one streaming media player; 8 percent own at least one streaming stick; 2 percent own both forms.

“Roku continues to lead streaming media device sales in the U.S. with 34 percent of units sold in 2014,” said Barbara Kraus, the director of research at Parks Associates. “Google is second with 23 percent, and new entrant Amazon overtook Apple for third place. The market consolidation around these four brands forces new entrants to develop more creative features and functionality to tap into the strong consumer demand for streaming content. Devices with additional functionality such as the Intel Compute Stick may be a sign of things to come, where streaming is not the primary function but an extra feature to provide additional value.”

“Device shipments and sales receipts are important performance measures, but an equally critical metric for device makers is ongoing usage,” Kraus added. “Usage will drive alternate revenue streams such as content sales and advertising. Roku devices are the most used among U.S. broadband households that own a streaming media device at 37 percent, followed by Google Chromecast at 19 percent, Apple TV at 17 percent and Amazon Fire TV devices at 14 percent.”