(JUNE 28, 2018)
"
Netgem boss Sylvain Thevenot explains why the telco set top box maker is launching its own retail range of Freeview Play products:
One of the Soundbox HD’s big selling points is the inclusion of a year’s free Amazon Prime subscription, meaning buyers can watch big name series such as The Grand Tour and Man In The High Castle straight out of the box.
Thevenot confirmed that the offer is available to both new and existing Prime subscribers, with the second group being able to add the free 12 month period to the end of their current subscription term.
(...)
“If you think about hybrid OTT devices, from the tiny stick to much more sophisticated devices with multi-tuners and PVR, excluding Sky, there’s
actually an almost equal share of connected TV devices that are sold as part of bundles from operators as there are retail.”
“We thought: ‘We’re doing a good job with the operator customers, why don’t we also tap into this because we’ve never done it’.
“There are some interesting things happening there and we’re not even playing, unlike
Roku, who we increasingly see as one of our competitors,
who started there in consumer but are progressively selling more in the UK through their Now TV agreement and in other markets they are starting to sell their technology –
but not yet successfully in other European markets.
“We thought ‘
Why don’t we go there and, quite frankly, block the road to Roku and the other American companies as much as we can?’
(in UK and other European markets)
(...)
The
NetBox and Soundbox are only the start of Netgem’s new consumer range with additional products, including some with
4K support and others Thevenot gave us an early but confidential guide to, in a variety of form factors are expected to hit the shelves
in the coming months.
And, while the firm is hopeful that its growing range will appeal to telecos, Thevenot insists the consumer offering is “
a real business” in its own right and one
the company has big hopes for. "
Source:
http://www.seenit.co.uk/netgem-boss-sylvain-thevenot-explains-why-the-telco-set-top-box-maker-is-launching-its-own-retail-range-of-freeview-play-products/
