Samsung set-top box uses mediocre Smart TV software to compete with Roku, Apple TV
Samsung isn't known for its software, but that hasn't stopped the company from pushing its Smart TV interface, which offers access to video streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and MLB.TV, as well as a selection of other utilities.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung previously demonstrated a TV-and-internet set-top concept in 2008. Its return to the category brings the company’s Smart TV interface out of the television and into a standalone device, making software quality central to its contest with Roku and Apple TV.
The box arrives as Netflix is extending its reach across connected-TV distribution, including a confirmed integration with Virgin Media’s UK cable platform. Samsung offers Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and MLB.TV another living-room route, but must make its interface competitive enough to hold viewers’ attention.
First-order effects
- Samsung gains a direct retail position against Roku and Apple TV, while its Smart TV software becomes the primary experience for buyers who choose the box.
- Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and MLB.TV gain placement on another dedicated TV device, giving Samsung’s customers a consolidated path to their streaming apps.
Second-order effects
- Roku and Apple TV face a hardware rival that can pair a standalone box with Samsung’s existing Smart TV interface, increasing the importance of app availability and ease of use in device selection.
- Streaming services have added incentive to support prominent connected-TV platforms, because each device interface can determine how readily subscribers reach their apps.
Third-order effects
- If television makers continue exporting their in-TV software to standalone hardware, the connected-TV market shifts from a contest over screens toward control of the living-room interface and its app relationships.
- The durable advantage will accrue to platforms that combine broad streaming support with a usable interface; Samsung’s acknowledged software weakness makes execution, rather than hardware entry alone, the key constraint.
The trend: Connected-TV makers are seeking to turn television software into a cross-device platform that controls streaming discovery in the living room.