Roku may be preparing to launch a smart home product, according to a recent report out of Protocol.
Earlier this year, Roku had published a job listing for “Director of Product Management, Home Technologies” which has since been removed. This job description said that applicants would “develop home technology product strategy” and “develop the company’s product roadmap”, among a few other responsibilities.
It also appears that Roku is looking to build new products that are developed in-house as well as partnerships with existing smart home companies. This job listing was filled by Damir Skripic, who worked for two years at Amazon and two years at TP-Link’s Kasa smart home business. Someone who likely has the partnerships that Roku is looking for, as well as the experience in smart home products.
Roku makes very little from hardware, but that could change
It’s important to keep in mind that Roku makes very little from its hardware. Like the Roku streaming sticks, sound bars and other products, those are sold almost entirely at cost. The place that Roku makes its money is with The Roku Channel, and also the deals it strikes with streaming services to carry its app/platform.
And most of that money is made from Ads. Which generated $764.6 million in gross profit last year.
Roku believes that to be able to compete with Google and Amazon, it’s going to need to get into the smart home space. Which could mean we get yet another digital assistant. Roku has already dabbled with voice control with its remote controls. Which actually works quite well. But voice control in a TV remote is much different from a competitor to Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
It’s a very interesting development for Roku, and it’ll be interesting to see what the company does in the smart home space.