Parks Associates: 39% of US broadband homes own a streaming media player, up 1% since 2018; Roku and Amazon Fire TV own 39% and 30% of the market, respectively
New research data shows that streaming media player growth is flattening. However, the number of connected TV homes continues to grow strongly, thanks to smart TV. See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Two years after 2017 data showed Roku at 37% and Fire TV climbing from 24%, Parks Associates finds the US streaming media player market nearly frozen: 39% of broadband homes own one, just one point more than 2018. Roku (39%) and Amazon Fire TV (30%) now hold roughly seven of every ten devices sold, squeezing Chromecast and Apple TV to the margins.
The stagnation is not cord-cutting stalling — Roku's own research points to 2M Americans leaving pay TV for streaming in 2019 — but the box losing its job. The description notes connected-TV homes keep growing on the back of smart TVs, and by Q1 2020 that shift was decisive, with smart TVs reaching 54% of broadband households versus 42% for external streaming devices.
First-order effects
- Device makers' unit-growth story ends here: with ownership flat at 39% and Roku plus Fire TV holding 69% combined share, Chromecast and Apple TV are fighting over a shrinking remainder rather than a growing pie.
- Roku and Amazon's installed-base advantage hardens into default positioning — whoever owns the home screen controls app placement, search, and merchandising for every service on that TV.
Second-order effects
- With the box market saturated, Roku's growth path runs through licensing: its subsequent push into Roku OS-powered smart TVs, which reached 38% US smart-TV market share in 2020, turns the same software from an accessory into the television itself.
- Amazon faces the same squeeze and must either partner deeper with TV manufacturers or cede the living-room interface, while streaming services gain leverage to negotiate placement fees as gatekeepers consolidate.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the streaming-device category dissolves into the television: competition moves from who sells the stick to whose operating system ships inside the set, making TV-interface control the new distribution chokepoint for ad-supported streaming.
- Content providers and advertisers reprice accordingly — shelf space on the default home screen becomes a negotiated asset, echoing how mobile OS gatekeepers monetized placement.
The trend: Living-room streaming is migrating from standalone hardware to operating systems embedded in smart TVs, converting device share battles into platform-licensing wars.