The days of the inexpensive Google Chromecast are coming to an end. Google will stop selling the dongle once the current supplies of the product have sold out. Its replacement is a new $99.00 device called the Google TV Streamer.
Google touts features like its 32 GB of storage, or the ability to control smart home devices etc. But what it is doing is attempting to justify a $70.00 price increase and shift to a market of higher income users instead of being accesable at a lower price point.
The market leaders in streaming, Amazon and Roku have multiple streaming product options that give users a chioce. For instance, Roku has a product called the Roku Express. It sells for $19.99. This lets people jump right in with Roku and get used to its operating system and get to watching TV at a pretty painless price point. But users can go up the ladder if they choose to and bulk up their experiance with five other products which cost more and add more features along the way. Its most expensive product is the $129.00 Roku Streambar wich serves as both a streaming device and sound bar that can be integrated with up to four wireless speakers and a subwoofer also made by Roku. Its top of the line streaming box is the Roku Ultra for $89.99.
Amazon offers the Fire TV Stick Lite at $29.99 at the low end along with three other products topping out at the Fire TV Cube for 109.99. Again like Roku, as you pay more you get more features such as an upgraded remote, more speed and more space and the ability to stream in 4k.
Google is going to be offering one product only for $99.00. The message seems to be that if you are not willing to drop $100.00 you don’t get to play in Google’s pool. This is the same strategy the Apple uses with the Apple TV. There are two versions of Apple TV on the market. The Apple TV starts at $129.00 with a model that only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi and a more expensive $149.00 that also offers an Ethernet connection. The two models offer 64 GB and 128 GB of space respectively. Apple TV, while one of the origianal streaming devices on the market, has never offered a lower priced option which tracks with the rest of its product line of premium smart phones and computers.
That seems to be Google’s new approach. It thinks it can sell the Google TV streamer to a customer that is looking to integrate their TV with smart thermostats, and Wi-Fi enabled ovens and the like. Either it thinks that customers who flocked to its less expensive Chromecast will upgrade when the time comes or it doesn’t vallue the spending power of those customers.
This is a bad move for Google. A true unforced error. The company could have just sold both prouducts. And while there are other products from third party partners like Walmart’s ONN Google TV streaming device the official company stance appears to be we don’t want you anymore.
