I once worked on part of a project for a certain kind of set-top streaming box (no, not one you've likely ever heard of). In discussions with the client they e

I once worked on part of a project for a certain kind of set-top streaming box (no, not one you've likely ever heard of). In discussions with the client they explained that it was impossible to get lower than about double the cost of a comparably-powerful Roku and still turn a profit, without supplementing with income from spyware, advertising, and various "partner programs" on the box. Which makes it damn hard to sell the things unless you've got some other angle to work (so, Apple can pull off $250 streaming boxes, but some new company? They better have a really good pitch, and they're gonna struggle more than they otherwise might to get on store shelves, which is a whole other thing). In our case they did have a niche they were targeting that meant they didn't want or need advertising and such, but the price point still hurt, and they couldn't do better without getting into adware and spyware.