Roku has been named as an acquisition target for Netflix as the streamer looks to realign its business to defend itself against subscriber erosion.
The evidence that such a deal is on the cards is circumstantial at present. Business Insider has reported that employees at Roku have been discussing the possibility over recent weeks. They’re concerned over an 80% in Roku’s share price over the last year that has reflected a decline in demand for video streaming – and Roku’s own streaming devices – as TV viewing returns to a relative normality post pandemic.
The internal chatter was heightened when Roku suddenly closed the window that allowed employees to take advantage of stock options.
While one swallow doesn’t make a summer, Roku would make a good fit for Netflix. The 20-year old company has a developing advertising business that the company has been promoting regularly in business-to-business meetings. Roku is also a known quantity for Netflix that invested an initial $6 million in the company that went on to help build the streaming player that helped develop its own business in the United States.
Later investors included Sky, which used the Roku platform to build its original Now TV streaming boxes.
Last Year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Comcast’s Brian Roberts had also considered buying the company.
Roku added just 1.1 million new accounts in the last quarter, but the Roku operating system remained the No.1 selling TV OS in the United States.
