Who Makes Roku TVs And Where Are They Built

Roku may be the last thing to come to mind when thinking about content streaming even though it helped popularize the service in the late 2000s. That's because the brand, which first launched as a Netflix-backed streaming player, is now mostly known for its TVs. It even landed a spot in our 16 major TV brands ranking based on customer satisfaction thanks to its excellent entertainment hardware. However, as a relatively new entrant in the TV market, many things are still unknown about it, like who makes its television units and where they are produced.

Roku Inc., a technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, and founded by its CEO, Anthony Wood, in 2008, owns the Roku brand. Its first product was an internet-enabled streaming player for TVs. In 2014, Roku Inc. ventured into licensing its proprietary operating system (Roku OS) to multiple TV brands, including TCL, Hisense, and Insignia. The deal also led to the production of the first Roku-branded television sets, called Roku TV, which were manufactured by third-party OEMs.

Roku focused on solidifying its presence in the smart TV market for a while through its software and licensed products. However, when partner brands started collaborating with Google TV and other platforms, Roku decided to launch its in-house television offerings. It introduced the Roku Select and Roku Plus Series in 2023, followed by the higher-end Roku Pro Series in 2024. As such, while Roku continues to license its OS to other brands, it is now the one manufacturing the Roku-branded TVs.

Compared to the other real owners of famous budget TV brands, Roku has been more transparent about its ownership structure. This is why many of the Roku TVs available on the market still carry the logos of the third-party OEMs that made them. In fact, when we compiled a list of the best Roku TVs in 2015, many entries were models from partner brands, like TCL, Westinghouse, Hisense, and Walmart's budget-friendly brand, Onn.

Interestingly, Roku isn't as transparent about its manufacturing process. Although its newer Roku-branded TVs are said to be produced in-house, the company has never disclosed where exactly the units are made. On its website, Roku only lists its offices in North America and other parts of the world. There is no indication of a U.S.-based manufacturing facility, where it could be producing the Roku Select, Plus, and Pro Series models. Consumers have also expressed on different online forum pages that the Roku TVs they've seen thus far were made in China. Only one user insisted that Roku's devices are designed in the U.S. but assembled in China.

Based on some social media posts Roku shared in 2024, there's reason to believe that it is producing its self-branded TVs overseas. In one LinkedIn post, Roku highlighted the role of a senior hardware engineer in its Taiwan branch. Meanwhile, a job post featured on its website recruited "engineering roles" for its innovation hub in Bengaluru, India. Manufacturing its products abroad could help justify why Roku TVs are so cheap.