TiVo Cuts Prices On Its Recorders
By ELLEN SHENG
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
September 6, 2005 2:31 p.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112602988555332896,00.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
Following up on its plans to increase marketing efforts, TiVo Inc. said it
slashed the prices of its digital video recorders yet again.
The Alviso, Calif. company announced Tuesday a $150 mail-in rebate on TiVo
recorders purchased before Nov. 27 and activated by Jan. 15, 2006. The
rebate lowers the price of a TiVo box that can store up to 40 hours of
television programming to $49.99. The offer improves on a $100 rebate
introduced about a year ago.
The most recent price cut is part of the company's efforts to ramp up sales
of its independent, stand-alone products. TiVo has leaned on its
partnership with satellite TV provider DirecTV Group Inc. in the past, but
with that relationship winding down and a new one with Comcast Corp. not
kicking in until next year, stand-alone subscribers will be the primary
source of revenue for the coming year. (The $150 rebate does not apply to
DirecTV recorders with TiVo service.)
In the second quarter ended July 31, TiVo's independent sales came in at
the low end of expectations, with 40,000 customers. A year ago, the company
added 63,000. On the other hand, net subscriber additions from a
partnership with DirecTV totaled 214,000. TiVo had about 3.6 million
subscribers at the end of July.
Mr. Rogers warned last month during a quarterly conference call that the
spending would increase in the coming months as the company ramped up
marketing spending. The company withdrew earlier expectations to reach
profitability by the fourth quarter and expects a third-quarter loss of $20
million to $25 million on revenue of $41 million to $43 million.
In addition to the $150 rebate, TiVo also announced a sweepstakes to
encourage TiVo subscribers to refer additional users. Each time a TiVo
subscriber refers someone, they will be entered into a random, weekly
drawing to win $1,000.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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