Last month Cord Cutters News surveyed over 2,000 of our readers about how they cut the cord. From the Fall survey, Roku is the clear leader in the world of cord cutting and is far ahead of the second most popular streaming player the Fire TV.
We asked our readers what streaming device they were most likely to buy next, and 13% said a Roku streaming player would be their next purchase. In second place with 9.2% was the Fire TV. Apple TV came in 3rd at 2.7% and Google TV had 2.5%. 70.6% of readers said they did not plan to buy a new streaming player.
These numbers are very similar to what we see from our readers when we ask them what devices they currently own. In our survey, we also asked our readers to list all the devices they use to stream their content. (Adding the numbers up won’t add up to 100%, as many people use multiple types of devices.) According to our readers, 66% use a Roku, 38% of our readers use a smart TV, and 37% use a Fire TV.
What may be most worrisome for Roku and Amazon is the 70% of our readers who see no reason right now to upgrade to a new streaming player. As cord cutting matures for many cord cutters what they have now is good enough for them, and they are not rushing out to buy the newest streaming player on the market.
Cord cutting may be about to run into the same issue smartphone makers are facing. Recently, we have seen iPhone sales drop as Americans stop seeing the need to get a new iPhone every year. For many Americans, they are just happy with their iPhone and will keep using it until it breaks. The same seems to be happening for streaming players, as Americans seem perfectly happy with what they have now, and a slight speed improvement is not enough to get them to hand over their cash for a new one.
This could spell trouble for major companies that have become used to cord cutters upgrading to the newest streaming players. Now, they will need to focus on other areas if they want to continue to see growth.
We have already seen Amazon and Roku both shift into ad-supported free streaming services in recent years. This move is likely, in part, an effort to diversify their streaming business away from mainly focusing on selling new players. Instead, they are focusing on earning revenue from the devices they have already sold.