On May 6, 2015, Comcast issued a press release proclaiming that the cable giant would be offering a 4K set top cable box by the end of the year. "We are committed to providing the highest-quality entertainment experiences across platforms and our next-generation set-top boxes deliver on that promise—providing our customers with UHD and HDR programming on the biggest screen in the home," Comcast said at the time. The company's "Xi4" box was to deliver 4K, while the company's looming "Xi5" box would be offering users access to HDR content.
Fast forward to the tail end of 2016, and TV Predictions reminds us that the Xi4 never arrived. Neither did the Xi5, which was supposed to appear ahead of the RiO Olympics.
"Asked this week by e-mail where is Comcast's 4K set-top, a Comcast spokeswoman said the Xi5 is 'currently being deployed,'" the website notes. "However, the spokeswoman has not responded to our inquiry regarding where the Xi5 has been deployed, or how many homes it's been deployed to."
"At this point, we don't know if it's been 'deployed' to an entire market (or several markets) or just a couple neighborhoods in Boston," the site adds.
That said, Comcast doesn't need to be in a rush, since the lion's share of homes still don't have a 4K TV set. Data indicates that just one in ten homes had a 4K set at the end of last year, with many consumers still not seeing the point of the upgrade. And Comcast certainly isn't alone in lagging on getting their 4K box to market. Outside of DirecTV, most cable providers are still barely capable of delivering a full 1080p HD stream, in large part because they wanted to ensure that 4K wasn't another dud like 3D TV.
That said, there's every indication that growth is poised to take off as 4K sets get less expensive, Sony and Microsoft's game consoles begin supporting 4K and HDR, and Netflix and Amazon increase their overall volume of 4K and HDR content. Research firm IHS projects 4K penetration is poised to jump significantly, hitting 10% in 2016 and 33% by 2019. But that still gives Comcast plenty of time before a critical mass of Comcast customers begin to get annoyed with the delay.
That said, it might be nice to see Comcast give 4K the same kind of effort we've seen behind the company's ever expanding broadband usage caps.
Today at 6:07 am
