The price of streaming services has been climbing for quite a while, but now streaming devices are joining them.
Roku just raised the prices on all of its streaming devices by 50% to 60%.
The Roku Streaming Stick went from $30 to $40, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus from $40 to $60, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K from $50 to $80, the Roku Ultra from $100 to $150, and the Roku Streambar SE from $100 to $150.
RAM shortage takes its toll
The increase was first reported by The Desk, which spoke to an executive at Roku who said that the increase is a direct result of the RAM shortage.
Back in its first-quarter earnings call in April, Roku CEO Anthony Wood said that the memory shortage would not affect the company much. “[T]he Roku TV operating system requires significantly less memory and storage than all our competing platforms,” Wood said.
At the time, Wood said that the bill of materials cost for Roku devices is also relatively low because the company is more versatile in the types of memory it can use.
“[A]s memory prices go up, the bill of materials advantage that we have versus our competitors gets bigger,” Wood said. “You know, the price difference expands, that attracts TV OEMs and retail partners, that’s good for our business. It helps us win more accounts and win more retail placements.”
Cut to today. Roku is far from alone. Its competitor, Apple, raised the price of the Apple TV (Wi-Fi) 54%, from $129 to $199, and the Apple TV (Wi-Fi + Ethernet) 67%, from $149 to $249, just last month. Even Walmart’s budget alternative to the Google TV streamer has doubled in price.
Buy now before the increases hit
The Roku store currently has a sale. Third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy have not yet changed prices on Roku devices, but once current supplies run out, they will raise them.
The price hikes come just a month after Fox announced that it is buying Roku.
