TV platform Roku makes hardware available on German market this year

Manufacturer Roku will offer its media players on the German market later this year. After the United Kingdom, it is the second European market that the platform is tapping into. So far, Roku has been particularly popular in the United States.

Roku announced on Monday that it would bring its media players to the German market. Roku hopes to be able to respond to the fact that streaming is becoming increasingly popular. In an interview with Reuters, Roku CEO Arthur van Rest said that “streaming is increasing and that this trend has accelerated due to the pandemic.”

The first step into the European market was taken in the United Kingdom, where Roku was introduced through the televisions of manufacturer Hisense. Since the partnership, a select number of Hisense televisions will ship with the smart TV platform for streaming. In Germany, Roku opts for a different introduction of its service and makes its own media players available there.

Roku’s media players and software provide access to various streaming channels. Think of YouTube, Netflix and Spotify. Roku’s players are thus competing with Google’s Chromecast and the Amazon Fire TV stick that are already sold in Germany.

The platform has not yet announced prices in euros for the media players in Germany. In the UK, the media player costs £30, which is roughly £35. Roku has not disclosed whether the media players are also coming to other European countries.