Intel was secretly testing a set-top box with more than 2,000 employees last summer as the company was sparing no expense to get said box up and running. But as the year ticked by, rumors surfaced that Intel was looking to offload the yet-to-be launched service for around $500 million. Buy why?
As Intel CEO Brian Krzanich recently told Re/code, the chip maker ran into similar problems that have reportedly plagued Apple for years – securing content deals. In an interview with the publication, the CEO said Intel’s set-top box is actually a very good product in terms of hardware and technology.
He revealed that the concept was to have three days of everything that is on TV at a user’s instantaneous access but regardless of how good a device it, it’s nothing without content. Krzanich said that when you go and play with the content guys, it’s all about volume. Intel came at it with no background or volume since they were starting from virtually zero.
It doesn’t necessarily sound like Intel is giving up on the idea completely, however. The chief said they are out looking for a partner that can help them scale their volume at a much quicker rate.
One company that could help Intel do just that is Verizon. The telecom already has content tie-ins with providers thanks to its cable service and we’ve been hearing rumors that big red is the front-runner to partner with Intel.
With any luck, we’ll hear more about it at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
