Funai Electric is the latest TV maker to connect with Roku, as it plans to introduce Philips-branded models later this year that are powered by Roku’s OS/streaming platform.
Funai joins a growing list of TV makers that have joined the Roku TV licensing program, which is part of Roku’s fast-growing Platforms division that also factors in advertising and subscription revenue sharing. Other Roku TV partners include RCA, TCL, Element Electronics, Hitachi America, Sharp, Insignia (Best Buy’s in-house brand), and Hisense.
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Funai has not announced pricing, screen sizes and whether 4K will be supported in its initial wave of Roku-powered TVs.
Roku also announced a Black Friday deal -- a $20 discount on its new Streaming Stick+. The model, which supports 4K and HDR, is being cut to $49.99. Though it’s billed as a Black Friday deal, this one gets started on November 22 (a Wednesday) at 9:01 p.m. PT, and runs through Monday, Nov. 27.
The Roku Express+, a model offered exclusively at Walmart, will also see “rollback pricing” during Black Friday weekend. That model, which supports HDMI and composite A/V ports (for older TVs without HDMI ports), usually sells for $39.99.
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Roku has also teamed with DirecTV Now on a promo that offers one month of free service to DirecTV Now to customers who buy and activate a Roku device through Jan. 14, 2018.
Roku will be using the promo to bump its base of active users. It ended Q3 with 16.7 million active accounts, up by 48%, or 5.4 million, year-over-year.
