Roku Plans to Dominant Control over Smart Home Devices

Smart Home domains bracing for potential Roku invasion

Roku, the popular streaming platform, is making a strategic move to establish a presence beyond home entertainment and into the smart home market.

In a recent investor conference call, Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden discussed the consolidation of services as a way to improve one's "position" and "heft." This comment could hint at Roku's devices becoming more capable and integrated with home ecosystems.

To drive this strategy, Roku has hired Damir Skripic, a veteran of Amazon, TP-Link's Kasa smart home unit, and Netgear's security arm, Arlo, as a director of product management. Skripic's role at Roku involves owning the strategy and execution of products and features that connect Roku with home ecosystems more deeply.

The company is also seeking a senior business development manager to foster partnerships with smart home hardware manufacturers. This role will involve working closely with product, engineering, legal, marketing, and finance teams to drive Roku's business goals.

Roku's end goal, if expanding into the smart home market, could be to provide as much value as possible using its existing platform. The company's current set-top boxes could potentially integrate features like piping in security camera footage and voice commands for shuffling through streaming services.

Roku's strategy might involve transforming its existing device lineup into connected devices, similar to what Apple has done with the Apple TV. The company needs to move quickly to have any visibility in the smart home market due to the presence of established brands and the new standard, Matter, being backed by Google and Amazon, dominant players in the smart home market.

Roku aims to expand in the smart home sector by offering a suite of smart home devices such as cameras, doorbells, lights, plugs, and motion detectors, all designed to work together to create a unified Roku smart home ecosystem alongside its core streaming platform and smart TVs.

With a 38% market share for its streaming sticks and TVs in the U.S., Roku is one of the last remaining independent platforms in the industry. The spat between Roku and Google over the renewal of licensing for YouTube TV last month could be construed as Roku publicly making itself known as one of the last remaining independent platforms.

Roku's goal is to grow its share and relevance in the ecosystem. By expanding into the smart home market, Roku aims to offer a comprehensive solution for home entertainment and smart home control, positioning itself as a one-stop solution for consumers.