Intel Scales Back On Viiv Digital Living Room Branding; Banks on MID Mobile Devices
About two years into its splashy CES 2006 debut, Intel (NSDQ: INTC) is scaling back on its digital living room brand Viiv. This was Intel’s attempt at branding entertainment/multimedia-heavy computers, with content deals with major content providers to stream in content onto these PCs. It included Intel-developed media software and joint work with content companies to certify that movies and other video fare delivered over the Internet worked well with a remote control and looked good on a TV screen.
We reported a year ago that Viiv had struggled to gain traction with consumers despite the heavy marketing. One of the major reasons was that the explosion in online multimedia means people haven
Not surprising, since imagination and user experience design seem to have trumped "semiconductor payola" as the preferred way to craft the future of an evolving digital media innovation space.
AMD Live was apparently never Intel Viiv's real competition — and vice versa. While they were busily focused on out-smarting each other with "branding" strategies, the window of opportunity clearly moved beyond their myopic perspective.
On the upside, consumer electronics devices designed with superior user interfaces will continue to require chips from semiconductor manufacturers who focus on their core competency. A valid lesson learned, indeed.