Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

Los Angeles Times

Chromecast, Roku lead 2013 sales in growing video-streaming market

Chromecast and Roku gadgets accounted for more than half of the video-streaming devices sold in the U.S. in 2013, according to a new survey.

Parks Associates, a market research firm, said Chromecast and Roku each accounted for about 32% of U.S. sales of the devices, which connect to the Internet to play content from services such as Netflix and YouTube. Coming in third place was Apple TV, which accounted for 18% of 2013 U.S. sales.

Chromecast's sales are particularly impressive considering the device was not released until July of last year, yet it was able to beat Apple and match Roku. Barbara Kraus, director of research for Parks Associates, said this was possible thanks to Chromecast's small size, Google's brand name and the gadget's low $35 price point.

"It was priced very well at a nice point where it was an impulse purchase that didn't carry really any level of risk for the purchaser," Kraus told The Times. 

From the article "Chromecast, Roku lead 2013 sales in growing video-streaming market" by Salvador Rodriguez.

Previously In The News

Why not pull the plug on cable

Not subscribing to a cable, satellite or telco provider does have some downsides. It means saying goodbye to ESPN and other popular networks that air things as they happen, although some news servi...

Now showing in rich people's homes: first-run movies

"There are thousands of people out there, if not tens of thousands of people, that could buy this product," Pang said. "We found the secret sauce to make billionaires act like little giddy schoolch...

Hard-core gamers turning to social networks

It's not just time. "Camelot" players also spend more money. The average social game on Facebook succeeds in getting between 2 percent and 5 percent of players to spend money on the game, according...

Former Apple exec markets a thermostat for the iPhone generation

Getting the average homeowner to take an interest — and make an investment — in managing energy is a chronic problem for the industry. But it's the wave of the future, and utilities, service provid...