Now that it is a new year, I thought it would be fun to share some 2016 predictions for the biggest companies in the industry (and Tablo of course):
Apple:
- No new Apple TV this year.
- New streaming service will be launched, but it will be relatively expensive (similar to Sling TV), and won’t be available on any other platform.
- Tablo app will be released in May. Other filtering options such as Sports, Movies, and TV Shows won’t be added until Fall.
Google:
- No new Chromecast this year
- New Nexus Player. They need a cheaper box for developers to buy and use. No new Shield TV.
- New Smart TV partnerships and higher sales of 4k TV’s with built in Android TV will increase Android TV market share significantly overall. Streaming box market share will remain the lowest out of FireTV, Roku, and Apple TV (mostly due to a higher price point and lack of marketing in my opinion).
- Increased market share will lead to new content arriving for the platform, including apps from VUDU and WatchESPN.
- Amazon Video will continue to spread on the platform through partnerships with OEM’s, but won’t be officially available on the Play Store in 2016 due to conflict with Google.
Roku:
- No new Roku high-end box, but they will release a low-cost refresh of older hardware (similar to the Roku SE on Black Friday)
- Roku on Smart TV’s will not increase market share due to lack of big partnerships
- Roku will lose market share overall due to increased competition from big tech companies in this space and lack of innovation in the Roku 4 and newest OS release
Amazon:
- No new FireTV 4K in 2016. Amazon will continue to aggressively price the current model.
- ESPN will be added as a subscription option in their new content bundling service
- Alexa will continue to add new integrations with other smart home appliances and services, and will become one of the stand-out features for the platform.
Tablo:
- No new Tablo box in 2016.
- New Smart TV app announced and released, either for Samsung or Vizio.
- 5.1 Surround Sound Support not released due to hardware limitations, lack of support from suppliers, and prioritization of other features
- Remote Login with Username/Password released
- Smoother live TV browsing experience launched. This might include the ability to see a guide while watching live TV.
- From @Andrroid (I agree with him): Recommendations and Voice Search integration added to Android TV app.
What do you guys think?