Mmm, what you say --
That you only meant well?
Well, of course you did.
Mmm, what you say --
That it's all for the best?
Of course it is!
Mmm, what you say --
This is just what we need?
You decided this.
-- "Hide and Seek," by Imogen Heap
Logitech International (Nasdaq: LOGI) has given a 17% haircut to the price of its Revue box. My only question is, what took you so long -- and why won't you go any further?
Being one of the first retail-ready examples of a Google TV device, alongside a couple of solutions from Sony (NYSE: SNE), the Revue carried the heavy burden of proving what Google TV can do. Trouble is, nobody wanted to pay $299 to find out, especially if it meant keeping an absolute monstrosity of a remote control on your coffee table.
Logitech sold about $5 million worth of Google TV gear last quarter, which works out to less than 17,000 units. That's being generous, mind you -- some of those sales could be for add-on (and equally craptacular) remote controls, keyboards, and video cameras.
To put that underwhelming unit haul into perspective, consider that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) sold 1 million Apple TV boxes in less than four months. But it's not really a fair comparison. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Logitech may pack more power into their entertainment hub, but they don't have nearly the design chops that Apple does -- and a richer feature list isn't worth triple the Apple TV's price tag.
What's worse is that Logitech's 17% price drop won't make one whit of difference -- it's simply not bold enough.
I was in the market for a media hub right around the launch of both Apple TV 2.0 and Google TV, and I never came close to considering the Revue or Sony's marginally more attractive offerings. They're not worth $299 in a world with Apple TVs, Roku boxes, and even attractively priced and highly capable Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) media centers, and $249 isn't a heck of a lot better.
Make Android and iPhone apps the default control method, lose the now-superfluous remote hardware, drop the price tag to $99 or less, and then ask again. Maybe then we'll really know what Google TV can do on an even playing field.
