We guess it could be safe to say that Roku sees the Apple TV as a competitor. After all both devices allow users to hook up to the television and watch video content, and it seems that Roku is not mincing words when they recently called the Apple TV a money loser, and even went as far as calling it as an accessory for the iPad.
Speaking at Re/Code’s Code/Media conference, Roku’s CEO and founder, Anthony Wood, was quoted as saying, “Apple TV is essentially an accessory for the iPad. They lose money, which is unusual for Apple. If you’re losing money, why would you want to sell more?” This seems to go against Tim Cook’s recent statement in which he claimed that the Apple TV could no longer be considered a hobby.
However it is understandable that Roku is feeling pretty confident about themselves. The company has claimed that sales of their products have actually doubled even in the face of Apple dropping the price of the Apple TV from $249 to $99 about two years ago, although to be fair, the Apple TV has reportedly managed to generate $1 billion in revenue last year, so that’s worth something as well.
Apple has been rumored to be working on a new Apple TV device. This new Apple TV will apparently be quite an ambitious undertaking for Apple and if earlier rumors are to be believed, Apple is in talks with Comcast about providing additional content for the Apple TV.