Google TV may be facing issues just one month after its launch.
Sony, which makes the Google TV hardware, slashed prices 25% over the holiday shopping weekend. While some tech insiders credit this to Black Friday deals, others point to sales trouble, according to the New York Post.
“This doesn’t smell like a Black Friday sort of deal,” wrote TechCrunch Saturday. “The price cut is everywhere from Best Buy to even the unit’s product page.”
Sony cut its 46-inch Google TV to $1,000 from $1,200, PC Magazine reported. Its 40-inch set sold for $898 down from $1,000. Sony has never before cut prices on a new product, the Post points out.
Google TV was released last October. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox have blocked their websites (and effectively the shows they air) from showing up on Google TV.
Sony also dropped the price of its $400 Internet TV Blu-ray disc player by $100 over the weekend.
Over the weekend, the price of Sony’s $400 Internet TV Blu-ray disc player suddenly dropped $100 — bringing it down to $299.
Still, the Consumer Electronics Association’s chief economist and director of research, Shawn DuBravac, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Our interim results showed that Internet-connected TVs had greater traction than 3DTVs” on Black Friday.
