If Roku Goes Down, It Won't Be Because of Xfinity

There was probably a lot of eye rubbing as Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) shareholders tried to assess the streaming pioneer's nearly 14% slide on Wednesday. The surprising culprit -- Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Xfinity -- turned heads after announcing that it will include the rental of a proprietary streaming device at no additional cost to its internet-only subscribers. 

Getting a streaming device without having to shell out any more money sounds scary if you're the competition, especially industry leader Roku with its 30.5 million active accounts that combine to spend roughly 3 billion hours a month streaming entertainment through its devices. Did Xfinity just start a price war where the opening shot is the zero? Then you have to realize that, well, this is Comcast. This is a cable giant that just a few years ago was voted the worst company in the country by Consumerist readers. If four of the world's biggest names in consumer tech haven't been able to disrupt Roku's market stronghold with their own streaming platforms, is Comcast really going to be the one that drives a stake through Roku's heart? I doubt it. You probably do, too.

Image source: Comcast.

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Source Fool.com