Xfinity looks to Walmart for TV partnership
Comcast and Walmart may be close to entering into a deal that would bring the Xfinity X1 platform to Walmart branded Smart TVs. The retailer would promote the new X1 loaded TVs in return for recurring revenue from the cable operator. The TVs would likely be manufactured by a third party but could carry Walmart’s private label brand, Onn. If successful, this would provide Xfinity nationwide access to households where they could promote their owned and operated services such as Peacock.
The NPD Take:
- As cable TV becomes less attractive, this allows Comcast to nationally expand the reach of services such as Flex and Peacock through their own operating system. In doing so they limit their reliance on costly access points such as Roku.
- Will consumers bite? Most streamers have chosen their alliance to operating systems such as Roku and Fire TV. It’s late in the game to be offering a new user interface, even if its better.
Netflix raising prices, again
Netflix is raising prices again. The streamer announced a $1 price hike on their standard plan to $14 and a $2 increase on the Premium 4K plan. The basic plan, targeted at budget conscious subscribers, will remain unchanged at $9. As subscriber growth slows, Netflix hopes consumers won’t mind the slight increase in cost given the vast library of original and licensed content. The price increase may also be a hedge against further slowdown in subscriber growth due to delayed original content releases. The new pricing goes into immediate affect for new subscribers and will be rolled out over the next two months to existing customers.
The NPD Take:
- Netflix raising prices isn’t that surprising considering subscriber growth has slowed since reaching new highs in the early months of the pandemic. With fewer new subscribers, the streamer needs to offset costs especially in light of a slowing content pipeline as a result of production delays which will further limit attracting new customers in the coming quarters.
- With the standard package now at $14, just $1 cheaper than HBO Max, the cost of OTT video is getting more and more expensive but subtle incremental increases make the changes unnoticed by most consumers. Our research shows the appetite for additional streaming services remain, but competition is growing and service switching is increasing.
Apple TV coming to Xbox
The Apple TV app is coming to the new Xbox Series X/S consoles November 10th, joining Netflix and Disney+. The app is already available on other platforms including Roku and Amazon Fire as well as smart televisions. Since the beginning of the year, Apple has shifted focus to expanding its service footprint by partnering with, in some cases former rivals, providing access to more households and helping to drive higher service revenues. The blending of services across devices will likely continue as OTT providers jockey to be discovered among the growing number of competitors in the market.
The NPD Take:
- By joining forces with Xbox, Apple further solidifies a focus on growing services revenues.
- Lines continue to blur between devices and services as former rivals partner up to expand their service offerings. It remains unknown the extent to which this will cannibalize manufacturer’s own services (e.g. Microsoft Movies & TV).