The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 1991–1999
Philips bet $1,000 that families wanted a box that was neither CD player nor game console
Philips's CD-i multimedia player, launched at about $1,000 in 1991, never found its market and was abandoned by 1996.
Philips · 1991-10-01
What happened
Philips and Sony co-developed Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-i), a multimedia format that combined audio, video and games. Philips raised its first home player, the CDI 910, in late 1991 at around US$1,000.
The pitch was a machine that was part CD player, part game console, part home computer — but at a price higher than a console and with a library thinner than a computer's.
CD-i did not manage to find enough success in the market. Philips mostly abandoned the format in 1996, and it was discontinued in June 1999.
The box that promised to be everything for the living room ended up being convincingly none of them.
Why it happened
- Philips priced its first CD-i home player at roughly $1,000 — more than a console, for a library thinner than a computer's
- The machine tried to be a CD player, game console and computer at once and was convincingly none of them
- CD-i never found a market; Philips abandoned it in 1996 and ended the format in 1999
The lesson
A product that is a little of everything is a lot of nothing. Philips's CD-i cost $1,000 and failed to be a convincing player, console or computer, so it was abandoned in 1996.
Sources
- Wikipedia — CD-i (launch, price, market failure, discontinuation)
- Atlas Obscura — The History of the Philips CD-i, Failed PlayStation Ancestor
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