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Roku Holds Lead In Streaming Media Players, But Amazon, Apple Gain

Streaming video device pioneer Roku continues to lead the market, but rivals Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Apple ( AAPL ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google are close behind. Roku accounted for 30% of streaming media players purchased in 2015, down from 34% in 2014, research firm Parks Associates reported Tuesday . The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company makes set-top boxes and streaming media sticks that plug into TVs. Increasingly Roku is getting its software installed in smart TVs, eliminating the need for separate hardware to access Internet video services like Netflix ( NFLX ), Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. Amazon moved into a virtual tie with Google at 22% of streaming media device sales. Amazon sells Fire TV devices and Google sells Chromecast streaming sticks. Apple came in fourth place with 20% market share for its Apple TV set-top box. The top four players accounted for 94% of streaming media players purchased in 2015, up from 86% in 2014, Parks Associates said. About 36% of U.S. broadband households have at least one streaming media player, up from 27% a year ago, Parks said. “Device makers have successfully sold streaming media players to consumers by offering easy access to a variety of content streams, as well as frequent updates that add the latest innovation,” Parks analyst Barbara Kraus said in a statement. “Amazon in particular has benefited by promoting its Fire TV devices in conjunction with the company’s Prime Video service as well as streams from HBO, Showtime and other premium offerings.” RELATED: Netflix Gets Vote Of Confidence From RBC Amid Heightened Skepticism

The Truth About Tesla’s 2018 Target: 900% Production Hike Needed

Loading the player… After the Model 3 received such a big response, Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) moved up its 500,000 annual unit build plan by two years to 2018. But just how much will Tesla have to increase its production to do so? In 2015, Tesla delivered 50,658 vehicles. That means it will have to increase production by 887% in just three years to meet that target. If CEO Elon Musk wants to deliver 1 million cars by 2020, that’s a production increase of 1,874%. For 2016, Tesla expects to deliver between 80,000 and 90,000 cars. By comparison, Ford ( F ) sold 231,316 vehicles just last month, while General Motors ( GM ) sold 259,557 in April. But CEO Elon Musk remains optimistic, and he has reason to be: The new Model 3 received nearly 400,000 orders in its first three weeks on presale. And Evercore ISI said last week that though Tesla’s 2018 production target is aggressive, it’s not impossible.

F5 Networks A Buyer, Not Seller? Security Acquisition May Be Plan

F5 Networks ( FFIV ) could be a buyer, not a seller, and might use its sizable cash-on-hand to acquire a data center security  provider, says Pacific Crest Securities. Some analysts have speculated F5 Networks itself could be sold, amid its  slowing revenue growth . F5 Network stock has clawed back 7% in 2016 after falling 25% in 2015. But F5 Networks stock was down 1.5%, near 106, in early trading in the stock market today . Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest,  downgraded F5 Networks stock on Tuesday to sector weight. “Going forward, we see an increasing probability that M&A will have a greater role in defining (F5 Network’s) ‘third act,’ particularly given that F5 has excess cash reserves of $1 billion and robust operating cash flows that exceed $600 million annually,” he wrote in a research report. Seattle-based F5 is the leading maker of application delivery controllers (ADCs) — electronic boxes that direct data traffic to computer servers. ADCs optimize server workloads in corporate and telecom data centers, helping speed up websites and communication networks. F5 Networks has made some small security-related acquisitions , including Defense.Net, a provider of cloud-based security services that help protect websites from large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, as well as Israel-based Versafe, a maker of software that protects Web applications from malware, fraud and phishing attacks. F5 Network’s closest rival in application-based data center security is Imperva ( IMPV ), analysts say. The so-called perimeter firewall market — the main type of firewall — is a crowded field, with  Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ),  Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) among the vendors. Another concern is that F5’s revenue growth might not rebound in 2016, Bracelin said. “The Shasta appliance refresh cycle will not drive a return to double-digit product growth, at least not for any quarter this year, and that there is increasing execution risk with a higher probability of M&A within cloud security,” he added. F5 competes with  Citrix Systems ( CTXS ), as well as  Radware ( RDWR ) and  A10 Networks ( ATEN ).