Like Amazon, Roku is exploring a plan to manufacture its own TVs powered by its own operating system, according to a report by Business Insider.
Roku Smart TVs?
Roku is currently selling its own streaming dongles, boxes and speakers, while also licensing its TV operating system to other manufacturers of Smart TVs including TCL. It is now exploring the concept of making its own Roku-branded TVs.
- "They showed different models, feature sets and names, sizes, price points," a source told Business Insider referring to a focus group demonstration. "This is a manufacturing operation. They want to go into making their own TVs."
A second person familier with the strategy said that Roku has explored manufacturing of TV sets for more than a year.
Roku's TV operating system in a TCL TV
Roku has not commented on the rumor.
Amazon, one of Roku's main competitors in the field, launched its first TVs powered by its own FireTV operating system in late 2021. Amazon continues to license its TV OS to other manufacturers.
Roku's operating system was the number one Smart TV OS sold in the US in 2021, according to NDP retail data.
- Source: Business Insider
