Buying a Roku TV is cheap but there’s a hidden cost

• Roku TVs make their money elsewhere
• Roku is just trying to keep pace with the industry
• The product is streamlined

Comparing prices of devices can be an exhausting job. Trying to come up with the best deal as you’re shopping around can take a lot of effort, but it’s also worth it in the end. At least, that’s what you tell yourself, as you do a lot of research on different websites comparing one computer or TV to another, only to come to the conclusion you should wait until Black Friday or Prime Day to order it. If you’re in a rush and need something as soon as possible, you likely don’t spend as much time as you might if, say, your previous device is still working fine.

Something that consumers have consistently noticed is that Roku TVs have become cheaper as the years have gone on. Smart TVs are now the norm and Roku is one of the most trusted smart TV operating systems out there, likely because many people have either seen it through a streaming device or TV landscape. But why exactly are Roku TVs so cheap, especially when many of its competitors aren’t? There are a few reasons for that.

Roku TVs make their money elsewhere

That initial price is only part of it

If you type in “Roku TV” on Best Buy’s website, there’s currently a Hisense Roku TV for less than $90. Granted, it’s 720p, meaning the resolution will not be incredibly clear. But even a 50″ 4K LED Roku TV is $260. For a new TV that’s a decent size, that’s a great deal.

The reason that Roku can afford to sell the TVs that have its OS built in for a reasonable price consistently is because the TV itself isn’t the moneymaker for the company. Roku just wants to get its operating system into your home. That’s because it tracks your information when you use it. This shouldn’t be news to you, as you’re getting targeted ads on the Roku home page based off what you’ve watched previously on your TV. Like the picture above, an ad for Mayfair Witches or another series will populate to suggest a show you might want to watch. Roku takes the info it collects based on your preferences and sells it to third-party vendors.

Digital advertising is the bulk of Roku’s revenue because it’s able to provide so much information from its users to vendors. Bits of info like your interests, demographic, how big your family is and more are all farmed out for profit. This shouldn’t be a shock to you, as you have probably noticed ads for shows and movies that seem interesting to you, mainly because it has learned so much about you through your viewing choices.

Roku is just trying to keep pace with the industry

It makes sense not to stand out in this way

Roku TV is a direct competitor to Samsung Tizen, Google TV, LG webOS, Apple tvOS, and Amazon Fire TV.

Let’s say you want a Samsung TV because you like Tizen, the Samsung operating system. There’s nothing wrong with that and it’s a fine OS. But as you notice from the picture above, there are ads prominently displayed as soon as you turn your TV on. Targeted ads and data brokering is just part of what smart TVs do nowadays. Now that you can buy things with the click of a button, why wouldn’t vendors try and make their product the thing you’re clicking on? If everyone else is doing it, why wouldn’t the rest of the landscape do it too?

There are a number of manufacturers who make Roku TVs. Westinghouse, TCL, Hisense, Sharp, Philips, and Roku itself all produce TVs with the built-in Roku TV OS. You can also buy a streaming device such as the Roku Streaming Stick or Roku Express that you connect to your TV via an HDMI cord or via Bluetooth. These bring the Roku TV OS to the TV, basically turning your TV into a Roku TV. This is similar to many manufacturers that make streaming devices also making TVs with their OS built in. Amazon and Google are the two main competitors to Roku in these regards, while the Apple TV 4K is a direct foe to the Roku Streaming Stick.

The product is streamlined

You don’t need to have both

If you don’t have a smart TV and want to turn yours into one, adding a Roku streaming device makes a lot of sense. It’s what I’ve done for years and I can vouch for how good the experience is. This was the first way that Roku was introduced into the landscape in 2008, as Roku was made to help people stream Netflix directly to their TVs. Eventually, the technology evolved and it became a streaming device that brought all kinds of streaming services and the ability to connect your TV to the internet to TVs. Not to say that you can’t use a Roku device with a smart TV, but it’s less necessary.

Digital advertising is the bulk of Roku’s revenue because it’s able to provide so much information from its users to vendors.

This is another reason why the Roku TVs are so cheap. Without the need for people to buy streaming devices as much, it’s important to stay in the smart TV landscape. Maybe people buy a cheap TV from another brand that doesn’t have Roku TV built in. They can still buy a Roku streaming device to bring the OS into the TV. But it’s not something that many will do. It makes more sense to buy a TV that already had it built in. Roku continues to make its TVs attractive to others by incorporating features like Roku Streams, which turns the TV into artwork when you aren’t watching something. Making the TV more attractive, in the long run, may outlast the need for streaming devices. Being able to get the TV into people’s homes so that the main profit stream of data brokering can take place makes the most profit. At the end of the day, getting people to use Roku TV is more important than selling individual units.