Apple yesterday shared plans to bring its Apple TV app to multiple smart TVs and third-party set-top boxes, including the Amazon Fire TV and Roku. The TV app will house Apple TV+, Apple's upcoming streaming service for its original content when it launches later this year.
Following Apple's announcement, Roku CEO Anthony Wood spoke to CNBC about Apple's decision to expand access to the TV app, expressing excitement that the content will be available on Roku devices.
Wood believes that Apple is "well-positioned" to be successful in the TV streaming market, despite its competitiveness, due to the company's large user base.
There were not a lot of details announced, but I think they're well-positioned to be successful. They've got a lot of experience with subscription services, they're investing a lot of money in content, and they've got a great brand and lots of loyal customers.
Wood went on to say that while Apple is counting on its iOS and macOS devices to "jumpstart" Apple TV+, the importance of smart TVs should not be ignored.
When you have a TV streaming service, you know, obviously they're counting on jumpstarting that with all of their iPhone and iPad and Mac customers, but actually, smart TVs are the way that most streaming services - long form streaming services - are viewed by customers. That's where they spend most of their hours.
Roku, says Wood, is the leading streaming TV platform, and if Apple wants to be successful, Apple needs to be on Roku and other similar platforms.
For any kind of service like that to be successful, you want to be on the leading streaming TV platforms and Roku is the leading streaming TV platform. We're the leading distributor of streaming content in the U.S.
According to Wood, there are no real negatives to Apple entering the streaming market for Roku because Roku supports all streaming services to offer its customers choice. Roku isn't betting on any one company to come out ahead in the streaming market because Roku "works with everyone" and benefits from a large amount of content being available.
Apple TV+ will launch in the fall, but ahead of its debut, the newly revamped TV app will become available in May. Apple plans to bring the TV app to multiple third-party platforms, starting with Samsung Smart TVs. Later in the year, it will expand to Amazon Fire TV devices, Roku devices, and smart TVs from Sony, LG, and Vizio.
