Boxee以约3000万美元出售给三星，此前押注流媒体硬件

做的是什么生意

Boxee is an Israeli- and New York-based streaming media and entertainment startup that began as media-center software and moved into hardware: the D-Link-made Boxee Box, then the $99 Walmart-exclusive Boxee TV with cloud DVR recording of over-the-air HD channels.

启动资金：$26.5M total funding before the acquisition, per TechCrunch.

起因

Boxee began as a provider of media-center software (its HTPC software shipped in 2008), then pushed into hardware: the D-Link-made Boxee Box arrived in 2010, and by late 2012 the company had shifted development to the Boxee TV, a $99 streaming box sold exclusively through Walmart with cloud DVR recording of over-the-air HD channels, initially available in a few US markets and rolling out through 2013.

经过

The company dropped active updates for the older Boxee Box to focus on the new line, disappointing longtime users, while a March 2013 firmware update added Vudu 3D content, DLNA streaming and on-device DVR management. In early July 2013, Israeli outlets The Marker and Calcalist reported a Samsung acquisition with conflicting prices; TechCrunch's sources confirmed the deal at around $30 million as CEO Avner Ronen said the company could not comment.

结果

Samsung confirmed to the New York Times that it had acquired key talent and assets from Boxee, and Boxee then confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch. The deal brought the whole team of around 45 people under Samsung's roof, and TechCrunch noted a price near the $26.5 million raised was not good given Boxee's hardware focus; the fate of the standalone Boxee line and Cloud DVR was left in question.

可借鉴之处

软件用户群并不能支撑硬件业务：当退出价格接近总融资额时，转型溢价从未实现——零售渠道和内容合作才是流媒体硬件价值的决定因素。