After weeks of reading these boards as an investor, I finally went out and purchased a 4K TV to see what UF was all about.
Once my Vizio updated to the latest firmware, it was pretty easy to find UF both under the "latest" apps and "Video/TV" apps. It's not a featured app, however.
From a business perspective, NTEK needs to quickly decide on a model for customer rentention. In this age, people are used to a monthly subscription with unlimited viewing or a combination of that and rentals/purchases for newer movies. Paying $9.99 to rent Fargo or Rocky is a little pricey for an older movie when that's basically a whole month of Netflix. What I would like to see is UF push something similar to Amazon's model - monthly subscription for unlimited viewing of most content and rental fees for newer content. I know they've mentioned it in a few interviews, hopefully that will come out soon along with additional content.
From a user perspective, I watched some of the nature documentaries and holy crap, they look amazing. I also watched some of the previews from MGM, you can tell they're upgraded and how much the quality differs from VUDU movies in HD seems negligible. Some of the documentaries had a little trouble buffering and some of the audio seemed a tad off in some previews. UF also needs to figure out a way to lure customers back under its current model. Once I explore this app, there's really no reason to come back to it because A) The content is fairly limited in genres, B) I have no idea if new content is coming or not because I have no idea that UF is a newish company still acquiring content, and C) One of the reasons Netflix is successful is their algorithm for suggesting new things to watch. If UF hasn't been "officially" launched as some are saying, NTEK needs to make that clear UF is in beta stages and develop brand loyalty with current users.
From a investor perspective, yes, UF's logo was up there on stage with Samsung's president. It matters because it does tell everyone UF is legitimate. However, NTEK is dropping the ball and making it NOT matter in regards to customer acquisition. How? Google UltraFlix, 4k streaming, 4k content, and 4k movies. You know what's not on the first page? Ultraflix's website. There's lots of articles with Ultraflix mentioned in them (many are outdated too) but with no URL in the article, you google UF. NTEK needs to upgrade their SEO immediately, update their UF website to really market their lower internet speed streaming capabilities/largest 4k library, and quickly update their NTEK website, (which is on the first page when you search UltraFlix, but you know what's not on NTEK's website? A link to UF's website). You might say people are going to find the app on TV. Sure, some will but I think a majority are going to find it through internet searches while researching things to watch in 4k. Content is going to be irrelevant if users can't find the UF website. I would really also like to see NTEK reaching out to the major 4k retailers to educate them. While I was at Best Buy, I heard a lot of customers asking about 4k content and the sales reps mentioned Sony's library, Netflix and Amazon. My rep worked in the Magnolia department and had never heard of Ultraflix (mind you, I'm in the bay area so it'd be easy for NTEK to make personal visits let alone phone calls).
Audited financials are important for credibility, but that's information from the past. As an investor, I'm mainly looking at UF's future. Customer acquisition and retention is the key for any business and at this point, I don't think NTEK has a great plan in place to do either as they're failing in some pretty basic acquisition areas (Yes, I have emailed the company about my concerns here). NTEK has neither an egg nor a chicken without a good plan for this. Once I start to see more in this arena, NTEK will become a better investment but until then, I will keep my investment small and I think a lot of other investors will too. I might miss out on a lot of an upward move, but the risk vs reward justifies that for me.
