Blockbuster seems to be perpetually behind Netflix in the rental market. Netflix pioneered rent-by-mail, eventually Blockbuster jumped into the market as well as they saw it eroding rentals from their stores. Then Netflix rolled out online streaming, and roughly eight months later Blockbuster acquired Movelink to get a jump start in the online market. Then Netflix launched a dedicated streaming STB with Roku this May, now Home Media Magazine is reporting that Blockbuster is about to do the same – launching their own STB. A key difference is likely to be streaming vs. downloads, as Movielink is currently an all-download service. This would likely mean the Blockbuster STB would need to be priced higher, as it would require storage for the downloaded films, while the Roku box for Netflix does not.
Of course, Netflix has already moved beyond the Roku box, streaming to Blu-ray players from LG Electronics and Samsung, TiVo, and soon Xbox 360. And, of course, PCs and now Macs.
Blockbuster just can’t seem to catch up, let alone get ahead.
Picked up via Format War Central.
