Walmart is making a FHD Onn. Streaming Stick with Google TV
This is one I did not see coming. After releasing what I would call the absolute go-to streaming box you can buy right now in the Onn. Streaming Box with Google TV (super creative name, right?), it looks like Walmart is prepping another model that streams at only 1080p as well and will obviously undercut the existing 4K model in price. But how much can you really reduce the price on something that is already set at a ridiculous MSRP of just $19.99?
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Well, for now we don’t know exactly how Walmart will price this new unit; we simply know it is on the way thanks to a report by the team over at 9to5 Google (via ZatzNotFunny). According to the info provided by the FCC, there’s not much we can learn about this new device apart from the fact that it is a streaming device, it is FHD (1080p), and it has Google TV. We assume it will be a stick, not a puck, simply based on the two models that precede these new devices.
The FCC documentation also tells us that Bluetooth 5.0 and both 2.4GHz and 5Gz Wi-Fi are on board, but little else is revealed. It doesn’t take much imagination to see what is happening here, though. Like they did with their prior Android TV streaming boxes, Walmart is still ready to offer a more affordable FHD model to go alongside the 4K version. What really gets interesting is the price point.
How will Walmart position the FHD Onn. Streaming Box with Google TV?
At $19.99, the existing 4K model of the Onn. Streaming Box with Google TV is already almost too good to be true. As you can see in our hands-on with the device, the interface and performance is fantastic and at twenty bucks, there’s little to be said on the negative end of things regarding this device.
But a drop to 1080p is pretty substantial in a world where many people have adopted 4K televisions in the home. Sure, there will be situations where a 1080p device still makes a lot of sense, but the $19.99 4K model can still work just fine on a 1080p television and upscale to another 4K TV when needed. To make the 1080p model compelling, the price would need to be a big reduction from the existing 4K model.
With a $19.99 price tag, though, how are they going to accomplish this? Sure, they could likely drop it to $15 and call it a day, but are buyers really going to choose 1/4 of the resolution and lack of future proofing to save $5? It seems like an odd play to me, but I’m sure Walmart knows their customer base far better than I do, so perhaps they see a window to sell more devices here.
If they could get the price closer to $10, it would simply be an impulse buy that they could push in a bunch of different ways I suppose, but I can’t see them being able to package and manufacture any device – regardless of it’s resolution – for that sort of price and not lose money. My bet is we see a $15 price on this one and for many purchasers, that savings may just be worth turning down the upgrade to 4K. We’ll see soon enough, I suppose.
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Source: Chrome Unboxed
