Roku continues to top US media device sales

Roku still leads the streaming media device market in the US having outsold rivals like Google and Amazon in 2014, according to Parks Associates.

The research claims that Roku devices accounted for 34% of streaming devices sold in the US last year, trumping second place Google which accounted for 23% of sales with its Chromecast stick. Amazon’s Fire TV products overtook Apple TV to take third place.

Combined, these four leading brands accounted for 86% of all units sold to US broadband households in 2014, according to Parks’ Streaming Media Device Landscape report.

“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,” said Barbara Kraus, director of research, Parks Associates.

Nearly 20% of US broadband households are estimated to own at least one streaming media player – like an Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV – while 8% own at least one streaming stick, such as a Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Parks said that Roku devices are the most used among US broadband households that own a streaming media device at 37%, followed by Google Chromecast at 19%, Apple TV at 17%, and Amazon Fire TV devices at 14%.

The research estimates that 86 million streaming media devices will be sold globally in 2019.