Roku could be the latest streaming platform provider to begin building its own smart TVs.
According to Business Insider, the company last month convened a focus group to get consumer feedback on different models, feature sets, names, sizes and price points.
Roku has built a lead in the U.S. in terms of smart TV platform market share thanks to its partnerships with several third-party manufacturers along with its player business that sells streaming boxes and dongles. The company last month added Sharp as another smart TV OS partner in the U.S.
Competitors like Amazon Fire TV has recently begun building their own branded smart TVs in addition to working with partners, so it’s entirely possible that Roku might want to follow suit.
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Roku claimed the top spot among smart TV platforms being sold in the U.S., which it said is its second in a row based on NPD’s Weekly Retail Tracking Service using available data from January 3, 2021 through December 4, 2021.
The company ended the third quarter with 56.4 million active users after adding 1.3 million, compared to 2.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
“We believe that the slowdown in active account growth rate this quarter was, in large part, attributable to global supply chain disruptions that have impacted the U.S. TV market. Specifically, overall U.S. TV sales in Q3 fell below pre-COVID 2019 levels. Some of our Roku TV OEM partners were hit particularly hard with inventory challenges, which negatively impacted their unit sales figures and market share in Q3,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Despite the supply chain concerns, Roku still grew its total net revenue 51% year over year to $680 million as platform revenue growth offset a decline in Roku player sales. The company reported approximately $130 million in adjusted EBITDA, up 132% year over year.