Roku's set-top box is better than Apple

According to foreign media reports, according to the latest market research report shows that Apple's Apple TV now in the US set-top box market has been competitors Roku opened a great distance. Whether it's from product sales or from device usage, the latter deserves to be the user's preferred brand, and Apple is also losing its appeal.

The report was released by market research firm Parks Associates on Wednesday.

From the point of view of usage, Roku's products accounted for 44% of all STB home users in the United States last year, Apple's Apple TV was 26%, the gap between the two reached 18% - and a year ago, the gap was only 13 percentage points .

In terms of purchases, 46% of households in the United States chose to buy Roku set-top boxes in 2013 and only 26% bought Apple TVs, up 20 percentage points - up from 16 percentage points a year earlier.

Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks, said Roku products have sold more in the United States than Apple for a number of reasons, including Roku's close relationship with Netflix, the most popular online video service, and none Restrictions, as many as 1,700 channel applications candidates, different pricing, different models of product selection, and good marketing.

In addition, Apple's internal emphasis on Apple TV has become a key reason for its sales of less than rival products, Klaus said. Apple TV, which costs about $ 99, has not seen a new model for two years now, and the company's internal positioning of the product seems more like a player than a set-top box in the family living room.

However, with the advent of new competitors like Amazon, consumers will also pay more attention to the development of set-top boxes. "It could eventually awaken the sleeping giant like Apple," Klaus said.

"When you look at the US market, you'll notice that Apple always emphasizes that Apple TV is a hobby device and that Apple can now sell some digital multimedia products through this device, but I think we'll see in the future that Apple will Do more on this product. "Klaus said," It is Apple TV as a hobby device positioning Roku benefit. "

Although Roku has taken the lead in the U.S. market, Apple remains strong in the global market. Roku's products are now sold in markets such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and last year the company sold a total of 8 million set-top boxes through these markets. However, figures released by Apple in April this year show that Apple TV sold 20 million units worldwide last year.

Parks report also did not consider Google Chromecast TV stick products. The product's total sales for six months from the beginning of the distribution to the end of last year were the same as the total annual sales volume of Roku set-top boxes. However, Parks also released a report earlier that the actual usage of Chromecast is declining.

Parks expects Apple TV and Roku to collectively account for the bulk of the total TV STB sales. Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast TV sticks will become potential competitive products, and the remaining share. The products that will eventually be accepted by consumers will be those that best blend "not to be missed" with a simple, intuitive user interface.

Overall, the popularity of set-top box devices in the global market will increase from 14% to 19% in 2014. Meanwhile, Parks also predicts that more than a quarter of U.S. homes will have set-top box equipment by next year, and global sales of such devices will climb to 50 million units in 2017, while the penetration of set-top box equipment in the US market will surpass 38%. (Lu Xin)