Roku may be the most-used connected TV device this year, edging out Chromecast, Fire TV and Apple TV, according to a new 2017 forecast from eMarketer released this morning. The firm estimates that 38.9 million U.S. users will use a Roku device at least once per month in 2017, up 19.3 percent from last year. This would lead to Roku capturing 23.1 percent of all connected TV users, in terms of market share.
eMarketer’s estimates for Roku, however, are much higher than Roku’s own recently released statistics. Earlier this month, Roku said it reached a milestone of 15 million monthly active user accounts across its platform, which encompasses its range of streaming media players and Roku TVs.
The big discrepancy between eMarketer’s numbers and Roku’s own has to do with how “monthly actives” are being counted, we understand, after checking with various sources.
Roku’s active user accounts are those who have streamed within the last 30 days. eMarketer, on the other hand, counts individual users of streaming devices who used the internet through the device at least once per month. Because Roku devices don’t have user profiles where each person get their own Roku account, the devices will have multiple users associated with a single Roku account in many U.S. households.
eMarketer’s forecast puts Roku slightly ahead of Chromecast in the U.S., which will have 36.9 million users this year, or 22.0 percent of connected TV users. Amazon Fire TV will have 35.8 million users in 2017, or 21.3 percent of connected TV users.
Apple TV lags much further behind, with 21.3 million users this year, or just 12.7 percent of U.S. connected TV users.