CNET News.com reports that Sam’s Club plans to begin selling TiVo Digital Video Recorders beginning with the HUMAX T800 Digital Video Recorder, a TiVo Series 2 model with 80-hour video storage capacity.
TiVo is also planning to offer a $100 rebate on TiVo DVRs purchased between August 11 and September 30, 2004. This will bring the price of some new 80-hour TiVo Series 2 DVRs down below $200.
The addition of Sam’s Club, a subsidary of Wal-Mart Stores, is an excellent new distribution channel for TiVo. TiVo DVRs are already on sale at Costco, so TiVo now has distribution in the two largest warehouse clubs in the USA. This should help the company grow its customer base substantially. Previously, TiVo has said that it wants to double the number of subscribers to its service each year for the next four years.