BY J. CLARA CHAN | HollywoodReporter.Com
Troy Warren for CNT #Business
The company saw a modest increase in streaming hours during Q4, growing from 18 billion hours to 19.5 billion.
Roku reached 60.1 million active users in the last quarter of 2021 as total revenue for the company fell below Wall Street expectations at $865.3 million.
Streaming hours saw a modest increase between Q3 and Q4, growing from 18 billion hours to 19.5 billion in the latest quarter. In a letter to shareholders, the company attributed slower account growth to supply chain delays caused by the pandemic impacting the U.S. TV market.
The slowdown is expected to continue into 2022, Roku CEO Anthony Wood and CFO Steve Louden said in the shareholder letter, with overall TV unit sales predicted to remain below pre-COVID levels. During the first quarter of 2022, Roku forecasts its total revenue will reach $720 million.
During a call with reporters, Louden declined to confirm a recent Insider report that Roku is exploring a plan to manufacture its own TVs but described the Roku TV program as being “very successful.” “We’re very happy with the progress we’ve had over the last five years on that program,” Louden said.
Last month, Roku’s platform chief, Scott Rosenberg, announced he would be leaving the company this spring. Though the company has brought on former NBCUniversal direct-to-consumer president Gidon Katz as a senior vp product, customer journeys and experience, Rosenberg said Katz was not succeeding his same position.
“Gidon’s got basically the torch on the consumer experience at Roku, so he oversees user experience, visual design and all of the things that go into designing an amazing Roku experience,” Rosenberg said. “I think Gidon was a great, great person to land for the company. It’s a very different job than the one that I’m leaving, which is really all about monetizing the Roku platform.”
