After establishing its presence in Europe, Xperi Corporation is gearing up to make its mark in the North American smart TV landscape in the coming year. The company, which is the parent organization of TiVo, has officially announced its plans to introduce TiVo-powered televisions to the North American market, joining forces with several TV manufacturing partners to bring this initiative to fruition.
The move marks Xperi's strategic expansion into a highly competitive smart TV ecosystem in North America. The region is already dominated by notable players such as Amazon with its Fire TV, Google offering Android TV/Google TV, Roku, Samsung's Tizen, LG Electronics' webOS, and the collaborative effort of Comcast and Charter Communications through Xumo. Additionally, emerging contenders like Telly are also making strides by offering ad-supported connected TVs.
Xperi’s TiVo TV initiative primarily targets the retail sector. However, the company has also explored the possibility of collaborating with operator partners to distribute TiVo-powered TVs. This concept was initially explored by Vewd, a video software company that Xperi acquired in 2022.
While specific TV manufacturers slated to distribute TiVo TVs in North America have yet to be officially disclosed, Xperi has secured partnerships with three TV manufacturing companies. In addition to the original deal with Vestel, a Hungary-based manufacturer, Xperi has recently inked agreements with Sharp and an unnamed third original equipment manufacturing (OEM) partner.
While the current agreements primarily target the European market, with Vestel set to release TiVo TVs during the upcoming holiday season, details about North American distribution remain undisclosed.
"I think we're going to end up with multiple players in North America next year," Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner said on the company's Q3 2023 earnings call. He emphasized the competitive and strategic nature of the market, refraining from disclosing further specifics. However, Kirchner reiterated Xperi's commitment to having a significant presence in both the European and North American markets by 2024.
Kirchner underlined the motivation behind Xperi's expanding TiVo TV strategy, highlighting the challenges some TV brands face in developing independent platforms. Xperi's solution offers an "independent media platform" that can cater to TV brands lacking the resources for platform development.
This move aligns with Kirchner's prior projection that Xperi would establish a footprint of over 7 million TiVo-powered TVs within three years, a target that remains unchanged for the time being. He affirmed the achievability of this goal, indicating that more insights would be shared in subsequent quarters.
In terms of financial performance, Xperi reported revenues of $126.9 million, reflecting a slight 1% increase from the previous year. This growth was accompanied by a net loss of $39.36 million, a wider deficit compared to the previous year.
Notably, Xperi's pay-TV segment, its largest contributor, generated $58.03 million in revenues, indicating a 4% decrease. Despite this decline, the company experienced positive momentum, signing on seven new service providers for TiVo's IPTV platform and adding over 150,000 new subscribers during the quarter.
