NanoTech Entertainment Inc (NTEK)

[wildspirit]

to me is so clear...

he Roku chief concedes that the market in which he operates is getting increasingly competitive – but he sees that as a positive sign. “The big picture is that TV is moving to the Internet,” he says in an interview. “All TV eventually is going to over the Internet.” Today, he notes, most of that comes through gaming consoles. But he says the picture is shifting away from consoles and toward streaming players and smart TVs, which is where Roku is focusing its business. Wood sees a huge opportunity for Roku in providing a platform – and content – to TV manufacturers, particularly the value-focused Chinese companies that are nibbling away market share from their Japanese competitors. In particular, he contends their solution is cheaper than the rival solution offered by Google TV, which this week is announcing a variety of new partners of its own. (And he also points out that Google TV lacks some content that Roku has, in particular Hulu Plus.)

Wood says that about 30% of Roku users to do not use a pay TV service, although the other 70% – and he says the balance has been pretty consistent as the company has grown. Of the 30% without cable service, about 10% came to Roku without previously having cable service. The other 20% drop cable after buying their Roku box.

Despite those 700 channels, the Roku slate of offerings has a few hole, Wood admits. In particular, a lack of in-market sports. They also have no deals announced with ESPN, although Wood notes that Xbox has a deal for authenticated ESPN service (meaning you can watch ESPN via Xbox if you have the right pay TV service.) He contends that anything Xbox gets, Roku will get eventually. But he adds that he doesn’t think ESPN is going to unbundle and offer the service on a stand-alone basis any time soon.

Wood notes that Roku could be a good partner for a virtual cable service – which is what Intel is rumored to be planing. Wood says he is aware of at least three companies that are trying to build virtual cable systems. He says the odds of one of them coming to market this year is about 50/50 off. But he adds that if Intel can accomplish the feat, others are likely to follow.