year Apple is counting on its growing consumer base of more than 70 million customers as it launches its own line of TVs, CEO Anthony Wood told CNBC on Thursday.
The streaming company unveiled its new line of TVs, the Roku Select and Roku Plus Series, during the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday.
Roku has sold hardware items such as sound-amplifying devices and streaming players in the past, though they’ve often been money-losing parts of its business. Still, Wood is optimistic about selling the new TVs.
“We generate billions of dollars in revenue a year from advertising, from distribution of streaming services, and we have a great platform to do that, but the core of that business is the market share of our platform,” Wood said.
It will sell 11 TV models ranging from 24 to 75 inches, which will be available for purchase in the spring. Prices will range from $119 to $999.
Roku’s commitment to hardware comes after a difficult year that saw its stock plunge 80%, forcing the company to cut costs in areas such as advertising and jobs.
The company tightened its fourth quarter guidance novemberEstimated at $800 million in revenue, a decrease of over 7% year over year. weeks later, the company announced that it was cutting approximately 200 jobs, or 5% of its workforce. It also reined in its advertising expenses in an effort to reduce margins.
“If you look at our overall advertising business, clearly the industry is hurting right now,” Wood said, although he noted that advertising in streaming is growing faster than traditional television advertising.
But Wood is optimistic on the momentum of the streaming industry at large.
“Last year Roku streaming hours were 87 billion hours,” Wood said. “It was up 19% year over year. The world is moving to streaming. All TV is going to be streamed, that means all TV ads are going to be streamed.”
Until now, Roku’s streaming technology has been usable through TVs made by manufacturers Hisense, TCL, Philips, JVC and others. By launching her own television line, she would compete with the same partners.
Early 2023 shares of Roku are up more than 4%, closing Thursday at $42.76.