Parks Associates: Set-Top Use Increases, Roku Beating Apple TV
While Apple TV is usually held up as the leading set-top video streaming device, research from Parks Associates shows that Roku boxes are used far more. According to Parks, in U.S. households with a streaming video device, 37 percent primarily use a Roku device while 24 percent primarily use an Apple TV.
The number of U.S. households with a TV streaming device is growing, noted the report: 14 percent of American homes now have one, double the percentage from only two years ago.
Parks also looked at the future of set-top streaming devices. While many industry experts have predicted that connected TVs will erode the set-top device market, Parks says that worldwide sales will grow to 330 million units in 2017, which is nearly double the number sold today. Parks analysts predict that the price of set-top devices will decline, and that consumers will continue to embrace them because upgrading to a new device is less expensive that upgrading to a new connected TV.
For it's report, Parks surveyed 10,000 U.S. households that have broadband connectivity. The survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2013.
Roku wasted no time in trumpeting the news. On the Roku blog, Anthony Wood, Roku's founder and CEO, said, "We’re not surprised that Roku fans stream more -- but we’re still excited to see independent research that supports it."
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