According to details of a new study developed by market research firm Parks Associates, the Apple TV is continuing to struggle in the living room. Now in fourth place behind Roku, Google and Amazon, Apple’s inability to attract new consumers is possibly due to the slow roll out of hardware revisions and the speed which competitors release faster, more feature-laden platforms for streaming media around the home.
Specifically, Roku devices are now being purchased by more than a third of U.S. consumers and the Google Chromecast is attracting 23 percent of purchases. The Amazon Fire TV was the third most popular choice among consumers while the Apple TV dropped to the fourth position. One bright point for Apple is that the Apple TV is still third when it comes to ongoing usage within the household. Despite the Fire TV being a more popular choice for new purchases, consumers are still using the Apple TV more to stream video.
Speaking about the results of the study, Parks Associates Director of Research Barbara Kraus said “The market consolidation around these four brands forces new entrants to develop more creative features and functionality to tap into the strong consumer demand for streaming content. Devices with additional functionality such as the Intel Compute Stick may be a sign of things to come, where streaming is not the primary function but an extra feature to provide additional value.”
Apple’s last major revision of the hardware occurred during 2012 with an upgrade to support 1080p content streaming. While an internal hardware revision of the hardware took place during early 2013, Apple hasn’t upgraded the hardware in roughly 2.5 years. Of course, the rumored revision of the 2015 hardware could help Apple gain market share back. Rumored features include full App Store support, a remote control with touch or voice integration and Siri support for finding movies and television shows to watch.
