by Ryan | 4th January 2008

Netflix recently announced a partnership with LG Electronics to build a set-top box for streaming movie rentals directly to a user’s television. The set-top box would work similar to a cable box and Netflix customers could order movies on demand right to their television. Although offering online movie rentals is nothing new, they have not been very popular with the mainstream consumer and the market is just beginning to take shape.

This news comes shortly after BusinessWeek suggested that Apple is set to offer movie rental downloads through their iTunes service. Apple will make Fox movies available for download with limited-time viewing restrictions. These movies can be watched on computers, iPods, iPhones, and other similar video ready gadgets. This could potentially be a huge market for Apple.

Other companies have tried the online movie rental download business without much success. Walmart and HP discountinued their services due to lack of demand. Many cable companies have offered on demand movies for some time, with varying levels of success. Amazon and Tivo offer another similar service. I think Netflix could be successful in this area because they already have a very large consumer base currently using their movie mail order service. Earlier this year they started allowing customers to stream movies to their computers, which has been very popular with the younger audience. While a younger audience is already used to watching movies on laptops and computers, the older audience might prefer a set-top box that allows them to view movies on their TV.

The new Netflix service is expected to be ready by fall of 2008.

Source: Business Week

by Ryan | 4th January 2008

Netflix recently announced a partnership with LG Electronics to build a set-top box for streaming movie rentals directly to a user’s television. The set-top box would work similar to a cable box and Netflix customers could order movies on demand right to their television. Although offering online movie rentals is nothing new, they have not been very popular with the mainstream consumer and the market is just beginning to take shape.

This news comes shortly after BusinessWeek suggested that Apple is set to offer movie rental downloads through their iTunes service. Apple will make Fox movies available for download with limited-time viewing restrictions. These movies can be watched on computers, iPods, iPhones, and other similar video ready gadgets. This could potentially be a huge market for Apple.

Other companies have tried the online movie rental download business without much success. Walmart and HP discountinued their services due to lack of demand. Many cable companies have offered on demand movies for some time, with varying levels of success. Amazon and Tivo offer another similar service. I think Netflix could be successful in this area because they already have a very large consumer base currently using their movie mail order service. Earlier this year they started allowing customers to stream movies to their computers, which has been very popular with the younger audience. While a younger audience is already used to watching movies on laptops and computers, the older audience might prefer a set-top box that allows them to view movies on their TV.

The new Netflix service is expected to be ready by fall of 2008.

Source: Business Week