Buddy, Jio is providing / has provided good discount to consumers in mobile, cable , retail industry etc. They try to build a strong customer base thru this strategy but it is not long term sustainable as u can already see mobile plan charges increasing. Also the cable set top boxes would always cost less than DTH ones bcoz there is a difference in components used or technology used in both these sectors. Ofcourse both Jio and airtel digital tv r subsiding the boxes but Jio Cable STB will still cost less bcoz of this. Fire Stick again cannot be compared to DTH set top box , DTH boxes have far more things installed in it. If Fire Stick is costing Rs. 2000 then a well build Hybrid DTH box should surely cost around Rs. 3500 or 4000. All companies r subsiding the original price not only for boxes but also for all the things installed for when customer buys new connection , these losses take months to recover which is why u will see companies preferring to have offers like recharge with Rs. 4000 and get HD STB free as such things help recover the hardware and installation cost in a,lot easier manner thru NCF, 20% share from subscription packs which will availed by consumer during the course of consuming the balance as well as other revenue earned by operators.
Even airtel is selling combo plans under airtel black to customers. Also just to let u know DTH or Cable operators are not earning anything from OTT subscription which u activate on ur box be it disney+hotstar, netflix, amazon prime video etc. The binge + or xstream ott premium pack offers range of content from various ott platforms and again it is heavily discounted and even provided for free to various customers, all of revenue earned from subscription goes to ott players. Airtel XStream surely earns revenue thru ads on their application, not sure of Tata Play Binge app.
Above all customer is getting so many freebies, even the free OTT or pack subscription while buying new connection. If u still want a drop in charges of STB then sorry buddy by u r indirectly asking / forcing ur operator to compromise on quality of product which is not good.... There is no other way for an operator to meet this demand
Well buddy not all products r made with intention to last for short duration. There r various companies which still deliver top quality products which last very long. I totally blame consumers, wanting all thing free or at dirt cheap cost is totally wrong. Bcoz of customers demand companies tend to provide less durable products at lower price, the day most customers say that i am ready to pay little more for good quality products then companies will deliver the same. Also this tendency in customers to change mobile phones every few months is shaping the market for products and driving sales up, not much need for companies in such sectors to lower quality for boosting sales... Not saying that such products r excellent and have longer life span which is not the case but fact is many customers do not use it even for that stipulated time. In DTH sector, most customers make an investment for using product for long duration so why not ask for a better quality products which last long , paying somewhat high price for it should be acceptable. Even better if companies launch 2 or 3 variants of a box differing in product quality and price, telling the customer upfront about all the details and let them make a choice
