Roku raises prices for streaming devices citing memory chip shortage

In the Brazilian market, Roku offers only the Streaming Stick and the Streaming Stick Plus, both maintaining their initial prices of R$ 289.99 and R$ 349.99, respectively. These devices were introduced to the country in August 2025.

Reasons for the price adjustment

A Roku executive, who requested anonymity, informed The Desk website that the decision to increase product costs was motivated by the scarcity of memory chips and other electronic components. This unprecedented demand for components, such as RAM and storage chips, was driven by the rapid expansion of data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence. Industries began prioritizing memories used in servers over parts needed for retail electronics, including smartphones, computers, and streaming devices. Due to the limited supply, production costs increased, and this burden is being passed on to consumers. Roku follows a trend observed in other major corporations, such as Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple, which have also made price adjustments. In the case of Apple, the Apple TV set-top box became more expensive: the 64 GB version rose from US$ 129 to US$ 199, and the 128 GB version, from US$ 149 to US$ 249.

Fox's acquisition of Roku

In June 2026, Fox announced an agreement to acquire the Roku platform for US$ 22 billion. This transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027. According to Fox, the objective of this acquisition is to gain greater control over the display of advertising based on Roku users, which has over 100 million residential televisions, in addition to expanding its own content network.

It is important to note that Fox Corporation was not sold to Disney, which retained the film, television, and entertainment channel studios. Currently, Fox owns open news and sports channels in the United States.