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The distributor of TiVo in Australia could be set to halve the price of its recorder following a significant restructuring in December 2010, and may also be looking to offload its assets to a competitor.
TiVo distributor Hybrid TV is set to drop the price of the TiVo 320 Media Device to AU$299 in order to “clear out stock”, according to an industry source, after dropping the price to AU$499 in November.
Meanwhile, The Register has reported that Hybrid TV reduced its workforce by 80 per cent in December 2010 and is in “advanced talks” to sell its CASPA online service and assets to FetchTV.
In January, Hybrid TV’s Robbee Minicola told CNET Australia that “nothing is happening to TiVo in the Australian and New Zealand market”, and said that price drops were due to the strength of the Australian dollar.
“Why would the number one PVR exit the market?” Minicola said at the time. “Nothing is going on with Hybrid TV … it’s just business as usual,” she added.
Minicola also told CNET Australia in January that TiVo would continue to support existing customers, saying that despite the recorder’s withdrawal from the UK in 2003, existing TiVo customers continued to receive service. TiVo re-entered the UK market through Virgin Media at the end of 2010.
TiVo went on sale in July 2008 as a 160GB recorder and was upgraded to 320GB a year later, but some criticised the device for its inability to archive recordings without paying an extra AU$200 for the networking package.
Hybrid TV was unavailable for comment.
