Roku Could File for IPO Soon, Raise as Much as $150 Million

Roku, the little box and dongle that has been a savior to the cord-cutters and a curse on cable companies, looks to be posturing to go the IPO route in the near future according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Roku is facing increased competition from Google and Amazon, and it will have to prove to investors that the company can still grow its traditional device business, and score in the TV space, even as it competes with Chromecast, Fire TV and Android TV.

Click to expand...

Ages ago, I could see the value of Roku. But now I just don't see what they have to offer. With products like the Chromecast and AppleTV offering basically everything the Roku does, as well as integration with mobile products - I'm just unsure what Roku has to offer.

I agree, I feel its a few years too late.

The Nexus Player and FireTV are Roku's biggest competition, they've had no problem competing in this space for years against Apple. Whether or not they can compete with Amazon and Google is the biggest question. Netflix made Roku relevant in this space and they've done a good job expanding from there, hopefully they can continue.

I have four rokus and love them. The remote is great and I can use my phone to control it if I want to. I can also mirror my Galaxy S5 to it. It's so simple to use, I wouldn't have been able to convince my wife to drop cable TV without it. Not sure what the hate is about.

Raekwon said:

I have four rokus and love them. The remote is great and I can use my phone to control it if I want to. I can also mirror my Galaxy S5 to it. It's so simple to use, I wouldn't have been able to convince my wife to drop cable TV without it. Not sure what the hate is about.

Click to expand...

Roku makes a great device - I'm not denying that. I'm just not sure if they can be competitive against the giant gorillas in the marketplace (Google, Amazon, Apple).

I'm not sure about long term, but I would say if anyone is going to take them on, it's Roku. They have been around for years. They aren't a new competitor in this space.

Raekwon said:

I have four rokus and love them. The remote is great and I can use my phone to control it if I want to. I can also mirror my Galaxy S5 to it. It's so simple to use, I wouldn't have been able to convince my wife to drop cable TV without it. Not sure what the hate is about.

Click to expand...

What "hate" are you referring to? I've seen none so far in this thread. Only that it faces rough competition going forward, which is a valid criticism. If Google for example is able to successfully tie-in their ecosystem and they can run apps and mirror smartphones&tablets on a TV-connected Play device, that's a pretty big deal since it'll be doing everything the Roku does (Netflix, etc) + more.

yeah, can't hate on something that doesn't force you into a walled garden

I have a Roku 3 and am very happy with it. Fantastic product.
I also have a Chromecast on another TV - love it and its a lot cheaper. Major advantage of a Roku over the Chromecast is the remote. My kids do not have smart phones (and are not getting them any time soon) - so we need a remote. Otherwise, I'd probably go with Chromecast.
AppleTV - not bad, but it's a bit too locked down. I don't like iTunes - so that market is not overly interesting to me. We'll see if they come out with a compelling update in a future revision.

Roku has an easy to navigate UI, awesome wifi direct remote WITH HEADPHONE port that no other has done yet. This gives it an edge especially for multifamily homes or wifi/husbands that are trying to sleep in the bedroom. The biggest downside to Roku but they all suffer this now is no direct playing videos from a network drive. This is why roku is worthless for that without plex. WD was the last one that I have seen that can play directly. I am anxiously looking forward to Nexus player with voice control and better UI for Plex. If roku can add voice into roku 4 and make it so plex can actually use a good UI with the sdk then I would stick with roku...but I highly doubt that last part as it has been through multi generations and have not improved. Plex can custom code a nice GUI like netflix did but that takes a lot of money/people hours when by now it should be simple. Roku can no longer just compete on having Netflix and Amazon as almost all the boxes have these nowadays. Screen mirroring is something that roku kinda has but its beta and not that great yet.

Oh and a big benefit roku over nexus player is ETHERNET port. I just do not know what Google was thinking. Streaming over wifi is just constant worries and problems especially when using super high quality bluray rips that it is much nicer when you have the choice to do one or the other.

hackztor said:

Oh and a big benefit roku over nexus player is ETHERNET port. I just do not know what Google was thinking. Streaming over wifi is just constant worries and problems especially when using super high quality bluray rips that it is much nicer when you have the choice to do one or the other.

Click to expand...

I don't disagree that an Ethernet port would've been nice, but the Wifi chip is 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO), so provided you have a decent 802.11ac router, should be able to play Bluray rips just fine.

Most consumers aren't doing their own Bluray rips though, and that's probably why Google simplified the design. So the Nexus Play probably isn't the best enthusiast/nerd solution.

Personally, my family will use the RokuXS refurb over the AppleTV that I've been playing with. Chromecast doesn't even get touched due to the requirement of a smartphone/tablet. For us, both smartphones have pin locks, so if we are watching a movie/show and want to pause it for a restroom break, you have to grab the mobile device, unlock it, then pause.. and by the time you're done with the break the device has locked again so you have to repeat to resume play. The only thing I use the Chromecast for now is HBO GO.. and I find myself going to the AppleTV for that also. Honestly... that's the one major downside of Roku for us... why can't they get the HBO Go app working with Comcast while AppleTV and the Chromecast can?

I personally think the Chomecast could be all you need if you're single, but once you start throwing in family (either visiting or if you have small kids), the tactile remotes like for Roku just make things easier. Then throw in the complication if you have more than one wireless router in the house. My wireless router doesn't cover the entire house, so I have to use a second. If it was in bridge mode, that might make things easier, but due to intermittent issues when devices won't access the internet via one wireless network, I left the other router as a separate SSID network... and the Chromecast won't connect to a mobile device or computer unless they are on the same router... even if the devices are on the same network/subnet. So, if my iPad connects to the upstairs router (Wireless2) while the Chromecast is connected to the downstairs one (Wireless1)... the two devices can't see each other even though they both get DHCP addresses from the same DHCP server....

Raekwon said:

Not sure what the hate is about.

Click to expand...

The wifi direct signal used for the Roku 2/3 remote likes to use the same channel as the wifi network used for the Roku, causing interference. If you don't believe me, search Roku's forum for "interference." They should be using bluetooth like the PS4/XB1, which causes far less interference.

I love my Roku. Got one for my son and for my Dad. Both use them all the time, as do I.

Lot's of competition in the arena, but they seem to still be doing well. Easy to set up, easy to use, can do a lot of stuff. Seems to be fairly open (haven't looked into mods or anything yet).

I bought refubs, and they have all worked flawlessly. I still see sales with refurbs. Was there a quality issue with the Roku 2? I haven't had a single issue, but there was a decent flood of refurbs for a while...