The market for streaming TV boxes is dominated by Apple and Roku, according to data by NPD shared with AppleInsider. The two players control over 80 % of the market.

Apple TV and Roku dominate
Game consoles, PCs and tablets are not included. NPD has instead looked at the market for streaming set-top boxes and devices such as the Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Google TV etc.

The market is largely a two-horse race, wherein Apple TV and the Roku boxes dominate with approximately 80 % market share. The share between the two is not revealed, but in 2012 Apple was said to sit on 56 % of the entire market for these devices. However, NPD’s data does reveal that unit sales are up more than 30 percent over the last twelve months, and that Apple TV is up 23 % in the same period, suggesting that Apple’s market share is slightly down.


Apple TV and Roku dominate the streaming box market

Google recently launched the Chromecast dongle that has seen some success, but Google’s original Google TV project is a complete failure. The marketplace also consists of several Android-based boxes and “sticks”, Raspberry Pi, and various “Smart” devices. None of these have made a significant impact in the market place.

Roku continues to release new streaming boxes, but Apple has not updated the Apple TV in almost two years.

- Source: NPD data via AppleInsider