Re:YouTube TV removed from Roku channel store amid Google co...
by rchaud on Friday April 30, 2021 @11:57AM
(#26995122)
> I don't know why they couldn't just raise prices and sell a device.
They're publicly traded, so selling only hardware makes their business model too predictable and 'low-growth' for Wall St. Also competitors could eat their lunch considering that their hardware isn't any more complex than a $50 Android TV box you can get at a flea market.
In order to create a moat to stave off competition, you make your business model all about 'services', with an increasingly less important hardware component.
They're publicly traded, so selling only hardware makes their business model too predictable and 'low-growth' for Wall St. Also competitors could eat their lunch considering that their hardware isn't any more complex than a $50 Android TV box you can get at a flea market.
In order to create a moat to stave off competition, you make your business model all about 'services', with an increasingly less important hardware component.