4 ms·
While it could be that your usage data is collected and worth that much to them; the far simpler reason is simply both how competitive the "normal" TV market is
by emn13 6y ago
While it could be that your usage data is collected and worth that much to them; the far simpler reason is simply both how competitive the "normal" TV market is, and how much you benefit from economies of scale. Even if your usage were worthless, a smart TV would likely be considerably cheaper.
Also, don't overestimate the bill of materials for a smart TV. Even a "dumb" TV almost certainly has silicon brain simply for controlling the settings UI and various other functions - that's cheaper than buttons, and remotes need something to talk to, so really, a smart TV simply means "a slightly fancier chip" - but still a chip that's several generations old by smartphone standards. It's not going to be a significant extra investment for the producer.