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TiVo updates from their quarterly call
Dave Zatz has a great roundup of new information about TiVo from their recent quarterly report call. There are three big things:
- The CEO admitted 9 months after the Series 3 TiVo launched that it was too expensive. For something in development for 2-3 years before release, I can't possibly see how this could be a surprise. If you polled any typical TiVo user (not bleeding-edge home theater nuts who will buy anything at any price) previous to the S3 launch, I'm sure everyone would have said the $799 price was the biggest sticking point. That was the overwhelming feedback on launch day and continues to this day. Everyone was expecting a $499 box and hoping for something in the $300-500 range.
It sounds like they want to release a "S3 lite" in that price range, but I don't know what features they'll be removing. Dual tuners is a must, but I could live without OTA recording (if it was just a cable HD device) and I suppose it didn't have to have the aluminum case and fancy OLED display.
- TiVo units from Comcast won't be making the Spring 2007 release they were rumored to, and instead it looks like they'll start in a few select markets near the end of summer. The promise of these units is definitely cannibalizing S3 sales as half my friends balked at the $799 price and said they'd wait for the Comcast offering instead. It'll be interesting to see what features are dropped in order to still differentiate it from a S3 or S3 lite TiVo (though one thing's for sure: it'll have On Demand stuff that S3 TiVo boxes won't have)
- TiVo is coming to Australia. This is great news for fans down under that go to great lengths to rig up a TiVo, though it sounds like TiVo will be tweaking/removing features in order to please broadcasters. It's unfortunate when a technology company has to cripple or disable features they already release in other markets, and especially so when it's something as core to the device as fast-forwarding.
by Matt Haughey May 31, 2007 in TiVo
Comments
I still think despite the price slash the gadget is still on the higher side. The rules of simple economic dictate higher prices = low sales. The company should take a look at its competitors to decide if it's really worth that much...
www.blackyard.net
Posted by: blackyard.net at Jun 5, 2007 4:00:27 AM
The current Series 3 price of $377 from Amazon (including rebates) motivated me to buy one. The price included a $30 rebate for accepting the Amazon credit card which I thought was a good deal. The S3 is an elegant piece of electronics that is far more capable than the beat up cable box that I had rented.
Posted by: LCD1080 at Jun 13, 2007 8:09:12 AM
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