Android TV and the Google TV interface are reportedly no longer among the web giant's priorities. The media outlet The Information explains that the division's budget, estimated at less than $500 million per year, has reportedly been cut by 10%. This budget is used in particular to finance agreements with TV manufacturers and to pay staff salaries.
All for YouTube
These teams have also suffered significant cuts, with layoffs reportedly affecting a quarter of their 300 employees. However, Google is planning to recruit again, particularly in India, to return to this level.
The workforce is working on both Android TV technologies found in televisions and streaming boxes (such as the recent Google Streamer TV box). These software should eventually integrate Gemini. Suffice it to say that this is not the end of this division, which has more than 270 million active devices worldwide. But in the United States, Android TV/Google TV only occupies fifth place.
Google favors YouTube: the streaming platform is the most watched in the United States, ahead of the heavyweight Netflix. Last May, according to Nielsen, viewing time increased by 67%. YouTube is a cash machine for Google: the business has generated more than $50 billion in revenue over the last 12 months, thanks to advertising of course, but also with paid subscriptions.
These declining investments in Android TV leave the field open to competitors like Roku, Amazon, Samsung and even The Trade Desk, an advertising agency that is developing its own Ventura operating system (it was supposed to equip the stillborn Sonos streaming box).
Source: The Information
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