Amazon said this week that there are now well over 30 million active users of its Fire TV family of living room video streaming boxes. That number outstrips the 27 million figure that Roku provided earlier this week.
The “well over” 30 million figure comes courtesy of an interview, in this case with CNET. That seems to be the way that Amazon releases hard numbers now: Earlier this week, an executive from the e-retailing giant told another publication that there are over 100 million Alexa-powered smart devices out in the world.
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According to CNET, that installed base “may” put Amazon in the leadership position when it comes to this somewhat small—at least compared to platforms like PCs, smartphones, tablets, and digital assistants—market for living room set-top boxes. But I think it’s far more likely that various smart TV platforms outstrip this number. And that it’s inarguably more important to measure the usage in services like Netflix and Hulu than the count just one of the device types on which they are accessed. After all, moving between streaming boxes is not very difficult.
Or, as CNET puts it, the market for video streaming devices is “exploding,” with the number of households with a streaming player quadrupling in the last five years. To address this need, Amazon intends to partner on more Fire TV-based smart TVs—following Roku’s lead—and improving its integration with Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant.
“There are things where voice is not going to be as fast [as using a remote] and there are things with voice where it’s not even going to be in the same ballpark,” an Amazon executive told CNET. “And we’re just going to keep working on making those parts great.”
Bats
<p>I don't understand that Cnet remark. Being that there are only 4 prominent players in the race, I think that they are automatically in *A* leadership position and not *THE* leadership position. Without any form of partnership from Google, the best streaming platform (still) has to be Roku. </p><p><br></p><p>I encounter several people a day (on the CordCutterNews Facebook Group) asking the question "Can I play YoutubeTV on a Fire player?" Obviously NO, which is too bad because YouTube TV is arguably the best tv service in the market right now. Combine that with Philo and it's a reliable streaming & unlimited DVR powerhouse that rivals DirecTV NOW, Hulu, etc…. These disappointed Amazon Fire TV users, end up commenting how they went and bought the cheap Roku Express instead. </p><p><br></p><p>The way I see it, it's a race for second place right now.. Amazon needs Google. Amazon, in fact should be scared of Google. The Android TV Platform is really, really that good. If Google can just focus on getting more partners to build more native network apps for the platform, we are talking about an instant challenge to Roku. Think about it all those Google Homes working and operating with the Android TV, which doubles as a Chromecast…..we are not only talking smart home, but fun home as well.</p>
m_p_w_84
<p>I would say that’s a very small number considering the stick’s at $20 are virtually free</p>