14 DAY TRIAL // On-demand video streaming seems to be getting bigger every year and Roku is definitely one of the most important names in the industry since the company has just announced that it served its one billionth content stream.
This milestone achievement comes right after the company has stated that it sold over 1 million units, making 2010 an important year in Roku's history.
Furthermore, Roku players averaged over 11 hours of playing time per week, an impressive number if we are to take into consideration the fact that an average American watches 36 hours of TV programming per week.
“A billion streams is pretty amazing and shows just how engaged our customers are with their Roku players,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc.
“If you think about it, our active user base now matches that of a top 10 US cable company. Our core values of simplicity, great content and affordability clearly resonate with mainstream customers.”
As the company's CEO points out, the low price tag certainly helped sales, the cheapest Roku unit being priced at no more than $59.99.
For that much money users get Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, 720p HD video playback, a HDMI output as well as access to over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand and Hulu Plus.
In fact, the wide number of on-demand video streaming services available is one of the reasons why Roku is so successful, this being one of the cheapest methods of streaming Netflix content to your TV.
In addition, according to the company, Roku streaming players continue to grow in popularity and usage as more streaming apps, or “channels,” become available.
Meanwhile, one of its most important competitors, Boxee, still struggles to bring Netflix and Hulu Plus support to its player.