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TiVo 2007: DVRs and Beyond Harvard Business Case 9-708-401

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TiVo 2007: DVRs and Beyond Harvard Business Case 9-708-401
1 TiVo 2007: DVRs and Beyond Harvard Business Case 9-708-401

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND The following provides a case study analysis of a 2007 Harvard Business School case study on TiVo, the Silicon Valley consumer electronics company best known for its innovative digital video recorders (DVRs) (Yoffie & Slind, 2007). The case concerns the challenges facing TiVo now that it is no longer the only competitor in the DVR market and TiVo’s efforts to craft a winning strategy in a changing environment. In the Fall of 2007, TiVo, the company that pioneered the DVR (digital video recorder) technology and TV category, and which to this day continues to set the standard for excellence and innovation in DVR technology and related services, is busy crafting a strategy that will transform itself into something more than a consumer electronics company. Notwithstanding its reputation for innovation and despite its loyal and enthusiastic customer base, TiVo is still struggling – after more than seven years in business – to turn an annual profit. Moreover, in the wake of the collapse of its agreement with Directv, TiVo has recently seen a dramatic decline in its subscriber base to less than 4.2 million from its peak of 4.4 million (Hemingway, 2007, p. 8). For a couple years after it started operations in 2000, TiVo had virtually no competition. By 2007, TiVo’s market share in DVRs has dropped to less than 25% (Yoffie & Slind, 2007, p. 7). Now, under the leadership of CEO Tom Rogers, TiVo is pursuing six different lines of business as it moves to transform itself and position itself to achieve profitability in the face of new competitive threats and a transforming environment and industry. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM After seven years of loss-making, and in the face of new competition and a changing environment, TiVo must now craft a strategy which will propel into profitability and a position of sustainable competitive advantage. P.E.S.T. ANALYSIS
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References: Edwards, C. (2007, November 19). I want my ITV; but I won’t be getting it soon. Business Week, pp. 54-55. Hemingway, J. (2007, September 17). Fleeing subs worry TiVo. Broadcasting & Cable, 137(37), 8. Miller, S. (2007, September 24). Start the TIVO-lution without me. Brandweek, 48, p. 20-24. Neff, J. (2007, March 5). Skip this TiVo story at your peril, top marketers. Advertising Age, 78 (10), 8. Stone, B. & Stein, R. (2006, March 20). Is TiVo’s time up? The DVR pioneer faces competitive assaults on all fronts. Newsweek, 147(12), 44. Vranica, S. (2007, November 8). TiVo serves up portrait of the ad-zappers; marketers are offered a look at subscribers, how they use DVRs. Wall Street Journal, p. B5. Wildstrom, S.H. (2007, August 6). TiVo, minus the tangle; the new HD set-top box is a delight – once you get it running. Business Week, p. 20. Yoffie, D.B. & Slind, M. (2007). TiVo 2007: DVRs and beyond. Harvard Business School case study, No. 9-708-401 (Rev. December 20, 2007). Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

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