Monday 29 February 2016

Google Might Just Sabotage Roku


Google is all set to compete with Roku in the smart TV fraternity.

Alphabet Inc. has been successful in signing a deal with television manufacturer Vizio. This will assist them in putting the functionality of its streaming dongle, known as Chromecast, directly into the television sets.
This news which has surfaced now might be appealing for all those who love Google but it is not that pleasing for Roku- a streaming box service. This company’s future solely depends on taking the position of the “TV operating system’ which will connect the television sets via streaming content provided by companies such as Google, Netflix and Amazon.
The company can render its services in the form of a streaming box but other than that, it actually means that Roku technology will feature in a smart TV itself.
Roku has collaborated with various television manufacturers such as TCL: the Chinese electronic giant and Haier. Other than that, the company also offers a blueprint which enables the companies to embed Roku’s technology into their smart televisions. This is done when Roku gets licensing fees for its service.
This venture known as Roku TV has been successful in capturing 8% of the smart TV market in the United States in just a matter of two years. The company has also been successful in bringing one million Roku smart TVs in the houses of people- this figure was calculated in January. According to the company, they are geared up to launch almost 60 Roku TVs in the fiscal year of 2016.
Sadly, the search engine giant has the potential to sabotage Roku. The company has similar plans when it comes to Chromecast. GOOG is not going to stop after Vizio and its speculated that the tech giant is in talks with other TV manufacturers for the same reason.
The question here arises, how the entry of Google is actually bad for Roku?
Google undoubtedly has a lot of cash reserves, thus it does not solely rely on Chromecast to churn in money for sustenance in the industry. A TV powered by Chromecast has a bunch of advantages to Google other than the licensing fee. This includes assisting the company in facilitating content distributing and bolstering its browser called Google Chrome.
If the tech giant says no to the big TV manufacturers that are irresistible to refuse then it will have to face problems while competing.
An initiative of this nature can also encourage other rivals to participate. For instance, Amzon.com Inc. might also be interested in coming up with a service of this nature and soon male the platform crowded.
Roku itself was anticipating the entry of Google in the market. Anthony Woods, the Chief Executive Officer at Roku gave a suggestion to Google to work on settling its market and establish an amazing TV operating system resulting in only a fewer players as competitors.


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