Why Your Next TV App Might be on Roku

Consumers love choice. With so many platforms in the market, content providers must strategically decide which platforms to build their apps on. We always encourage you to develop apps on platforms where your customers are. But there’s a platform that’s hard to ignore:

Roku. 

Changes are happening that will make it difficult to ignore Roku TV. We're going to take a look at the Over-The-Top (OTT) market, Roku OS, and why Roku app development will have to be just as much of a necessity as building apps for iOS or android.

Source: Roku

 
Roku Dominates OTT Market

As of 2017, the global OTT market earned $97.43 billion and estimates $332.52 billion to be made by 2025. The OTT industry is growing rapidly with a CAGR of 16.7%, and Roku already dominates streaming box services in the US with a market share of 50.8%, leaving Amazon Fire and Apple TV behind at 28.5% and 26.7% respectively. 

 
Manufactures Picking Up Roku TV

With an already strong dominance on the streaming box market, Roku announced the launch of Roku TV in 2014. Roku's interface is used by top brands such as TCL, Sharp, RCA, Hisense, and Sanyo. With so many manufacturers supporting Roku OS, more than one-in-three smart TVs currently being sold in the US are Roku TVs.  Simply put, US consumers prefer Roku TV as their platform of choice. 

Roku’s Simplicity

What’s setting Roku TV apart from its competitors is the easy to use remote, simple home page, and continuous software updates. Users enjoy the convenience of one-click access, cross channel search, and live TV pause. With hundreds of TV manufacturers supporting Roku OS, consumers have a comprehensive set of TV options to choose from, making it easy to find what fits their needs while still holding on to their platform of choice.

Source: TCL

Looking Ahead for Roku

Roku is continuing to expand its profitability. It has leveraged its dominance in the market to sell ads on hosted channels, retain a cut of consumer subscriptions on the Roku platform such as Netflix, and display ads on the homepage. Most importantly, Roku's connected TV OS gives hundreds of TV manufacturers access to the Roku platform. The next challenge for Roku is expanding globally. While it dominates the US market in streaming box services and smart TVs, it doesn't have as strong of a presence outside of the US. However, we fully expect Roku's user base to double by 2025 as it continues to expand globally. 

As a content provider, Roku is one of the most important platforms you need to build for. It's safe to say that Roku TV has a strong and secure future with consumers, making it one of the top considerations when developing your app strategy. With so many active users, there’s simply too big of a viewers market that cannot be ignored!