New data from eMarketer suggest Apple is currently “at the bottom of the U.S. connected TV market, behind Google Chromecast and Roku, with its share shrinking.”
As per eMarketer’s data, Apple is currently used by only 11.9 percent of connected TV consumers. That’s down from the 12.5 percent of users who were using Apple TV in September, the 12.6 percent who were using it in 2015, and the 13.5 percent in 2014. These numbers are also consistent with recent surveys of our readers.
On the other end of the spectrum, Google’s Chromecast rose from 18.4 percent in September to 19.9 percent of sales over the holiday season. Both of these were up from the 16.2 percent Chromecast represented in 2015. Roku, meanwhile, made a big leap from 15.2 percent in September to 18.2 percent of sales this quarter, according to the data analytics firm.
Though it is possible that the DIRECTV NOW deal may have had a effect on the sale of the Apple TV in stores.
This maybe why many Walmart stores dropped the price of Apple TVs last year likely in a effort to jump start sales. Yet the Apple TV is still priced at three times the average cost of Roku and six times the cost of a Chromecast unit. It will be interesting to see if Apple considers a price cut for Apple TV this year in the hopes that more devices could drive more content and app purchases.
Source: VentureBeat
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