ROKURoku, Inc.

Roku sells boxes and televisions at almost no mark-up and earns from advertising inside its own interface.

The device is a way to occupy the television's home screen. Whoever owns that screen decides which service is seen first and charges for it: a share of subscriptions taken through the platform, placement fees on the storefront, and advertising in its own free channel.

The model works while the installed base grows, so the hardware is sold at cost or below. The vulnerability is that television makers are developing interfaces of their own and large platforms promote theirs. Advertising income depends on the overall ad market, which is cyclical. Hence the ambiguity in valuing it: active accounts grow fast while income per account depends on what an advertiser will pay for one. The company pays no dividend.