Sorry Craig but you are completely wrong on this one. It IS sold at retail today. I purchased a USDTV box at my local Walmart for $199 a couple weeks ago here in Jacksonville where (like most places) there is no USDTV service. There was no requirement to sign up for anything. I subsequently returned it but will likely purchase another once the Gen 5 chip models arrive. I have no idea of the manufacturers cost but a nationwide deal that loses the manufacturer $50 / unit seems unlikely. That USDTV web page statement was said on AVS to be now obsolete. I don't know why they haven't changed it but it supposedly applies only to the discounted box from USDTV, and certainly not my Walmart model. - Tom Craig Birkmaier wrote: > At 5:56 PM -0400 8/3/04, John Shutt wrote: > >>Perhaps USDTV has changed their policy? This is on their website: >> >>http://www.usdtv.com/get_usdtv-subscription_details.php >> >>"Terms and Conditions: >>A subscription to USDTV is required to receive any broadcast service with >>the USDTV receiver. By subscribing to the USDTV service, the customer agrees >>to a one-year service agreement of $19.95 per month for the base receiver >>and $4.95 per month for each additional receiver. The monthly service fee >>will be charged to the customer's credit card. If the customer terminates >>the agreement prior to the 12-month term, a cancellation fee of $199.00 per >>receiver will be charged. For complete Terms and Conditions review our >>Residential Customer Agreement." > > > You guys are mostly missing the bigger picture here. > > The Hisense receivers are subsidized in TWO ways. > > Hisense is selling the receivers to USDTV below cost. I have heard > estimates that the cost of manufacture is about $200 - THIS IS NOT A > RETAIL PRICE! > > Hisense sells the receivers to USDTV for about $150 - THEY ARE > SUBSIDIZING THE REST. > > The customer pays $99 at WalMart when they buy EACH receiver. In > order to use it they must then subscribe to the USDTV service. The > fees listed above in the Terms and Conditions are in addition to the > one time price paid for each receiver. The monthly fees cover several > things: > > 1. Monthly subscription fees for the non broadcast channels that are > paid directly to the networks that are carried; > 2. Retransmission consent fees for the local broadcast signals - this > may be the way that local broadcasters are compensated for the use of > their spectrum. > 3. Repayment of the subsidies for the receiver. > > If the Hisense box were sold at retail today it would cost at least > $300 in order to cover manufacturing, distribution, sales and > marketing costs. > > Regards > Craig > > And don't forget the royalties. About half of the $67 cost for a STB > is royalties, which do not get cheaper with volume or Moore's Law > driven cost reductions. > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at > FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > unsubscribe in the subject line. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.