It doesn’t compare well to its main competitors.
Roku has a lot of users, but that doesn’t mean they all like what they see. A new survey from Horowitz Research sheds light on how the platform’s customer satisfaction compares to competitors after Fox announced a $22 billion acquisition.
Market share is where Roku thrives, with nearly 40% of U.S. streaming platform users choosing it. That’s well ahead of its closest competitors, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart Hub. Both rivals are below 30 percent.
But that’s where the good news for Roku ends. It ranks behind Fire TV in several categories: ease of finding content, latency, streaming, and ad experience. Samsung scores higher than Roku in Wi-Fi connectivity and reliability. And both competitors beat Roku in startup speed and smart home integration. Roku did not dominate Fire TV or Samsung in any of the individual categories surveyed by Horowitz.
Meanwhile, the pricey mid-range Apple TV and Google TV have much lower market shares. But like Fire TV and Samsung, they also performed better than Roku in the areas Horowitz’s research focused on.
Roku’s broad reach is likely a big part of Fox’s appeal. This gives the company a gateway to younger, streaming-focused audiences. The media empire will have plenty of opportunities to pitch them ads and perhaps promote its signature far-right content.
But if this survey is any indication, it could face an uphill battle to win over Gen Z. Horowitz’s Adriana Waterston notes that younger viewers are more demanding than older ones when it comes to streaming experiences. “To continue to dominate the market, Roku will not only need to look to increase penetration, but also refine its interface to meet the demands of Generation Z.” She added that younger customers “expect a robust, highly personalized and cutting-edge user experience,” areas in which this survey suggests the platform is lagging.
Waterston also noted that the platform’s ad manager “runs the risk of oversaturating the Roku viewing experience with repetitive, lower-quality ads.” This could “further alienate younger audiences, who already have a low tolerance for advertising.”
