Roku continues to keep its international sales numbers under wraps, but the OTT video specialist announced Tuesday that it has surpassed sales of 10 million players in the U.S.
That’s 2 million more than the U.S. shipment figures it cited in January, and roughly double the number of domestic shipments since last April. Roku, which unveiled its first device in May 2008, surpassed the 2.5 million mark in January 2012.
Roku was the best-selling streaming media player in 2013, accounting for 46% of purchases in the category, according to a Parks Associates survey. According to Roku, its top sales market, in order, are: the Bay Area; Washington, D.C.; Seattle/Tacoma, Wash.; Atlanta, Ga.; and Phoenix, Ariz.
But Roku is still behind the Apple TV in cumulative global shipments. Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple TV sales had exceeded 20 million units worldwide. Google has not revealed precise sales figures for the Chromecast streaming adapter, but acknowledged in May that it is in the millions.
Amazon also has not announced how many Fire TV devices it has sold since the device went on sale in the U.S. in April, but the company has been trying to juice shipments using a try-it-before-you-buy-it campaign targeted at Amazon Prime members.
Roku also announced that its players now account for 37 million hours of video streamed per week, claiming that outpaces the Apple TV (15 million hours), Chromecast (12 million hours) and Amazon Fire TV (6 million hours) per week.
Roku said its customers have streamed five billion hours since 2008, and forecasts that its platform will stream out 3 billion hours in 2014. The top 10 Roku search terms so far for 2014 are: Robin Williams, Game of Thrones, Orange Is The New Black, Frozen, The Lego Movie, Downton Abbey, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Walking Dead, Under The Dome, and The Big Bang Theory.
Roku also sells devices Canada, the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, but has yet to disclose international sales figures numbers.
Of recent note, Roku launched a $49.99 HDMI-connected Streaming Stick in March, and simplified its box lineup about a year ago.
Roku is also trying to expand its reach with TV integration deals. China-based TV makers TCL and Hisense have built the Roku software and apps platform directly into a handful of models. Several other TV makers, including Curtis, Element Haier, Insignia (Best Buy’s CE brand), Oppo, Apex, and Polaroid, have developed or are developing TV models that are compatible with the MHL-powered version of the Roku Streaming Stick.
