Apple TV losing market share to streaming set-top box rivals Roku, Amazon
Competitors to the Apple TV are continuing to outpace Apple's streaming set-top box, a consumer research report claims, with the proportion of U.S. households owning and using an Apple TV shrinking while Roku increases its strong lead.
Published on Tuesday, the study by Parks Associates found ownership of the Apple TV in the first quarter of 2017 made up 15 percent of the market, down from the 19 percent market share recorded by analysts in the same period in 2016. By contrast, Roku saw a year-on-year increase in its lead over its rivals, growing from 33 percent in last year's survey to a dominant 37 percent this year.
Amazon, with its Fire TV range, also increased its market share during the same timeframe, growing from 16 percent of households to 24 percent. The Google Chromecast saw a reduction in its install base share, moving down to 18 percent from 21 percent.
Parks Associates told AppleInsider that the study surveyed 10,000 US broadband households in both periods, with the results stemming from households that owned at least one streaming media player. In 2016, 36 percent of those surveyed owned at least one streaming player, reducing slightly to 33 percent in 2017.
A similar study by eMarketer in July also reports Roku as having a considerable lead over its rivals, with 38.9 million Americans claimed to be using a Roku-equipped device at least once a month, compared to 21.3 million recorded for the Apple TV.
"Roku emerged early as a U.S. market leader for streaming media players, and the company has held firmly to that position," said Parks Associates Senior Analyst Glenn Hower. "Higher-priced devices, such as the Apple TV, have not been able to keep up with the low-priced and readily-available Roku devices, which can be found at Walmart for as low as $29.99."
By contrast, the fourth generation Apple TV starts from $149, five times the cost of some Roku devices.
It is estimated by Hower that a third of U.S. households with broadband own a streaming media player. "The growth of the U.S. OTT (Over The Top) market provided consumers with unprecedented ease of access to video content. These streaming media devices make for quick and easy access to the top OTT libraries."
Parks Associates' report, "Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms," also found 45 percent of U.S. households with broadband own a smart TV, 49 percent owned a game console, 35 percent had a Blu-ray player, and 32 percent owned a DVR.
While Apple lags behind its rivals in the results of the study, it is possible that Apple is taking steps to make the Apple TV more attractive to content consumers. The rumors of a 4K upgrade, as well as the addition of 4K-resolution content to the iTunes Store, may make the Apple set-top box more attractive to 4K TV owners eager to consume the higher-resolution content.
Published on Tuesday, the study by Parks Associates found ownership of the Apple TV in the first quarter of 2017 made up 15 percent of the market, down from the 19 percent market share recorded by analysts in the same period in 2016. By contrast, Roku saw a year-on-year increase in its lead over its rivals, growing from 33 percent in last year's survey to a dominant 37 percent this year.
Amazon, with its Fire TV range, also increased its market share during the same timeframe, growing from 16 percent of households to 24 percent. The Google Chromecast saw a reduction in its install base share, moving down to 18 percent from 21 percent.
Parks Associates told AppleInsider that the study surveyed 10,000 US broadband households in both periods, with the results stemming from households that owned at least one streaming media player. In 2016, 36 percent of those surveyed owned at least one streaming player, reducing slightly to 33 percent in 2017.
A similar study by eMarketer in July also reports Roku as having a considerable lead over its rivals, with 38.9 million Americans claimed to be using a Roku-equipped device at least once a month, compared to 21.3 million recorded for the Apple TV.
"Roku emerged early as a U.S. market leader for streaming media players, and the company has held firmly to that position," said Parks Associates Senior Analyst Glenn Hower. "Higher-priced devices, such as the Apple TV, have not been able to keep up with the low-priced and readily-available Roku devices, which can be found at Walmart for as low as $29.99."
By contrast, the fourth generation Apple TV starts from $149, five times the cost of some Roku devices.
It is estimated by Hower that a third of U.S. households with broadband own a streaming media player. "The growth of the U.S. OTT (Over The Top) market provided consumers with unprecedented ease of access to video content. These streaming media devices make for quick and easy access to the top OTT libraries."
Parks Associates' report, "Reinventing CE: Transforming Devices to Service Platforms," also found 45 percent of U.S. households with broadband own a smart TV, 49 percent owned a game console, 35 percent had a Blu-ray player, and 32 percent owned a DVR.
While Apple lags behind its rivals in the results of the study, it is possible that Apple is taking steps to make the Apple TV more attractive to content consumers. The rumors of a 4K upgrade, as well as the addition of 4K-resolution content to the iTunes Store, may make the Apple set-top box more attractive to 4K TV owners eager to consume the higher-resolution content.
Comments
When I read this stuff anymore I only hear Richard Dawson's voice in my head saying "the survey say"
So they surveyed a 100 people and the declared the win is, but Apple never said how many apple TV they sold so they obviously can do the math with out knowing one of the numbers.
My bottom line is that, as one who enjoys being in the iOS world, I can't wait to dump the Fire TV and get back to Apple TV. Lost of Airplay alone is killing me at the moment.
Add to that that the Fire TV's interface is (at least for me) markedly inferior. In general, getting back to 'where you left off' is a major pain.
Can't wait for next month.
1. There's still no Amazon video app, though one is promised to be coming.
2. HULU's latest interface is complete garbage. It's frustrating and the font is too small to read even on 55" TV. (Not necessarily limited to Apple TV.)
3. Netflix's latest interface with auto-preview is an annoying waste of data. (Not necessarily limited to Apple TV.)
4. All of my Siri remotes become unresponsive shortly after powering on my Apple TVs for 15 seconds or so.
5. One of my three Apple TVs reliably turned on my Sony TV and controlled the volume on my Yamaha receiver for over a year. A few months ago, it just quit. Resets, restores, nor HDMI cable replacement helped. The other two rarely, but sometimes, operate the Samsung TVs to which they are connected.
6. It's almost impossible to orient the Siri remotes in the dark or without looking at them.
7. It's almost impossible to hold on to a Siri remote - it's simply too small and slick. I had to add a third-party case just to make them usable.
8. Even after more than a year, I still can't seem to figure out what button does what intuitively without having to stop and think about it.
I love Apple and I really wanted to love the Apple TV 4, but it's been more an exercise in frustration than anything else.
To this day, the interface on the Apple TV 3 still wins for simplicity and usability. The Apple TV 4 remains one of my least-liked Apple products ever.
I also have an Apple TV 4 in the living room and in many ways it's remote is an improvement such as using Siri to open Netflix.
- The main problems with the current Apple TV are; it's about $50 too expensive and it doesn't have an Amazon app. (I use Airplay for that but it's a hassle.)