Roku tops 50m user accounts, neck and neck with Amazon's FireTV

Roku is enjoying strong momentum. The TV platform has attracted around 14 million users in 2020 and now has a total of 51.2 million active accounts, which puts it neck-and-neck with Amazon's FireTV.

Up by 14 million in 2020
In mid-December 2020, Amazon claimed to have topped 50 million active users for its FireTV platform, up from 40 million in early 2020. Roku now claims to have 51.2 million active user accounts as of December 31, 2020.

- "Today, we shared a significant milestone for Roku and the industry. We announced preliminary estimated data for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2020, of 51.2 million active accounts — up by approximately 14 million accounts in 2020. Additionally, viewers streamed an estimated 17 billion hours in the fourth quarter for a total of 58.7 billion hours in 2020, an increase of 55% year over year for the quarter and the full year," wrote Anthony Wood, CEO of Roku.

The figures have not been audited by an outside party and may not be 1:1 comparable but it would seem that the two leading TV platforms in the US are neck and neck.

However, as measured by usage (in terms of 'streaming hours'), Roku is still far ahead, according to data by analyst company Conviva. Amongst connected TV boxes, Roku has a 48% share compared to FireTV's 28% share as of Q3 2020, says Conviva.

Roku celebrated the 50 million milestone in a press release leading up to CES 2021. The company usually announces new feature or partners at the consumer electronics show.

- "We’ve always believed that all television would be streamed, and today we’re one step closer to that goal," said Anthony Wood.

Analyst firm eMarketer predicts that by the end of 2024, fewer than half of US households will have a traditional pay TV subscription.

Roku also published this infographic.


 - Source: Roku