The consumer channel is one that has been very successful for TiVo. What people often forget is that the investment that they’re making in the consumer device is the same investment that they are making for the MSO provider. What the consumer channel gives them is a direct contact with the consumer and a very passionate loyal audience that gives them direct feedback. And it’s been a source of great innovation for them and stuff like that.
That said, being in the hardware business isn’t something that necessarily excites us. When we acquired Fanhattan and the Fan TV platform, they had an OEM relationship and we’re focused on a box solution. And when we acquired them, we said, we’d look to move to be box agnostic and be able to partner with box providers who can do that. There are several box providers out there who have direct-to-retail. We’ll be looking at the possibilities of working with them, having them control the box. And while that would be a partnership and we wouldn’t get all the sales as a result, we think that’s probably a better way to approach the consumer space. But don’t look for us to exit the consumer space.
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Remember when Philips and Toshiba and Pioneer made TiVos?
Regarding TiVo's retail success, I wonder if that's in the rear view as TiVo net only 3,000 new subscriptions (presumably including Mini) in the last quarter...
Didn't Sony also make them? My original Tivo series 1 was a Phillips box -- I don't think Tivo even made their own hardware back then.
Still, can't quite parse what this means. Are they saying they are done making retail hardware? I certainly hope not -- the X1 box, while better than their Moto boxes, it still isn't reliable. And even when it records what it says its going to record, it sometimes doesn't appear in the recordings section until after the recording is done!
Yeah, and the guy behind the TiVo at Sony went on to helm Digeo, maker of the competing Moxi DVR (that was acquired by Arris). As the world turns...