Roku Adds 1.3M Accounts to Reach 56.4M, Supply Chain Hurts Device Sales
In Q3, Roku added 1.3 million active accounts for a total of 56.4 million. That number is up 22% over last year, when it had 46 million active accounts.
Alarmingly, Roku reported overall U.S. TV sales in Q3 fell below pre-COVID 2019 levels. The company blamed supply chain issues, and said it chose to cut its margin on Roku devices to try to insulate their consumers. The company warned of potential supply issues for the holidays, so now might be the time to grab a Roku device if you’d like one this year.
On the bright side, Roku saw 18 billion streaming hours in Q3. That’s a 21% increase year-over-year. Streaming hours per active account per day were 3.5 hours. Platform revenue rose 82% year-over-year to $583 million, and ARPU exceeded $40, which was an increase of nearly 50% year-over-year.
Recently, YouTube TV and Roku’s agreement ended and YouTube TV was removed from the platform. Unlike YouTube TV however, the Roku Channel is completely free. The FAST industry is becoming increasingly more successful and will be worth an estimated $4.1 billion in 2023. That being said, there isn’t a lot Roku needs to worry about.
There have been a lot of exciting developments for Roku in the past year. More recently, consumers have the chance to receive free, 30-day access to 32 premium streaming channels like CuriosityStream, Fox Nation, Showtime, Sundance Now, and lots of other popular channels.
Roku has also entered the world of scripted comedy, with the recent release of “Children Ruin Everything.” The streaming service also has popular titles like “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Halloween,” “I, Robot,” “Jackie Brown,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Spy Kids,” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” There are also films exclusive to the Roku streamer: “Night of the Sicario,” “Wildcat” and “Percy Vs. Goliath.”
There have been plenty of updates and features, new devices, the addition of new channels and originals that have kept account users coming back for more. For instance, Roku gained a lot of traction when it risked taking on Quibi, adding 75 of its titles to Roku’s library. The service would go on to gain 53.6 million active accounts, and the numbers stay climbing.
In March, Roku acquired the subscription channel, This Old House. According to Dan Suratt, Vice President of This Old House, the benefits were symbiotic, “We’ve seen streaming hours grow almost 50% more in the past six months versus the six months prior to the acquisition.”
The rollout of new operating system, Roku OS 10.5, along with the release of the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ have also attributed to Roku’s high numbers.
Roku’s user growth comes from the U.S. and Canada and they have just begun expanding internationally. It operates in over 20 countries like the U.K., Mexico, Brazil, and Germany. Roku also plans to bring Roku TVs to Chile and Peru this year. The company benefits greatly from its streaming devices, smart TVs, and is a go-to partner for third-party streaming services.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free live TV streaming service that provides 350+ live linear streaming channels and more than 80,000 free movies and TV shows. The library contains entertainment from several different decades, including some major hits.