Roku stock investors got a fright for a brief time last month when its smart TV manufacturing partner TCL announced it’s restructuring. They thought TCL would stop making Roku TV. TCL later clarified that it was merely reorganizing its capabilities to focus upon branded electronic products such as the new 75 inch 8k Roku TV. At a time when 4k TV sets are still finding their feet, there is no doubt that this 8K TV is nothing less than the 8th wonder of the world. With rock solid Roku support behind it, experts believe the company can sell nearly 2 million 8k TV sets within a year.
Number of Roku subscribers is skyrocketing
Roku investors are waiting with baited breath the 4th quarter and the full year financial report of the company to be announced next month. There are already no doubts in the minds of consumers that Roku is the king or the superstar of streaming video platforms. In a recent report, Roku claimed to have registered a massive 40% increase in the number of its subscribers. This number has now reached a whopping 27 million. Roku said that these subscribers watched 7.3 billion hours of its programming. Clearly Roku wants to transition from a mere hardware maker to a platform that streams programs. In fact, streaming videos is going to be the money spinner for Roku in future.
Stats point to the fact that cable TV is dying as more and more consumers prefer watching live and other video streams. Roku realizes this and it aims to be the hub of all video streaming. Strong Roku support services will certainly help in realization of this dream. It is no longer a company that made hardware that allowed you to stream videos. Today it has made inroads into the world of streaming as a platform that streams videos, and not just on Roku TV’s.
Strong inroads in the smart TV market
According to a report, nearly 75% of all smart televisions sold across the country last year came preinstalled with Roku operating system. This OS allows streaming of videos if the device is connected to internet at prices that are very attractive. Now you know why people were scared when they wrongly believed that TCL was stopping production of Roku TVs.
One reason why video streaming through Roku is cheap is because of all the money it generates through advertisements. You would be surprised to know that Roku also gets a commission from ads being shown on other video streaming providers. This is because these shows are also made available on Roku devices.
Roku is growing big but more as a platform allowing streaming of videos than as a hardware manufacturer. Service providing platform of Roku registered an increase of 74% last year with revenues touching $100 million. On the other hand, increase in hardware business was just 9% with revenues being $73 million.
Roku is indeed the superstar of television right now. Not only does its TV allow video streaming through set top box but also provides video streaming service of its own.
