Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Set-Tops Winning Battle With Apple TV

So far the TV boxes are holding their turf against upstart Internet devices, but advertising will ultimately decide the winners.

Apple TV, Akimba and others haven't succeeded because of a dearth of content and high prices for purchases. )It will be interesting to see if Apple try and resuscitate its flailing box at the upcoming Macworld or CES.)

"The high cost of these devices, their reliance on the home network, the need for consumer self-installation, and the scarcity of content have all contributed to their lack of commercial success," says ABI Research research director Michael Wolf. “This market will continue to be challenged by traditional set-top boxes, which are incorporating more VOD and public Internet delivery features, and by the emergence of VOD services on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and those such as the TiVo/Amazon Unbox offering."

According to ABI Research's Paulhwa Lee, set-top box companies are adding features, such as increased hard-disk space, DVD players, DVD burners, and home-audio solutions, which will better align STB functionality with consumer demands.

Services like Vudu have more of a chance, but incorporating a wider variety of web video that is ad-supported is the best shot that 'net machines have. Someone needs to develop the technology to automatically find and "TiVo" the best of the web content that's available and monetize it through advertising. Google and YouTube come to mind as the most likely company that have the chops to make it happen. The writer's strike could be the best thing that could happen to the Internet-to-TV devices as people will spend more time online once the repeats hit in January.

Posted By John Gartner at 10:22 AM
Permanent Link: Set-Tops Winning Battle With Apple TV | Comments (1)

(1) Comments on Set-Tops Winning Battle With Apple TV

So, the basic arguement here is that legacy money-losing companies, like TiVO will be able to fend off this new-fangled "internet thing" forever? Or are you saying that XBox, which sounds like a vacuum cleaner, will become a viable video delivery system? Or Unbox, which is basically incompativle with portable devices? OK-- you place your money however you want to play it. I'll keep y Apple stock, thank you.

Sounds to me like this "ABI research" is maybe not so impartial.

Comments by tom B : Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 10:09 PM

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