TiVo has never earned a profit in all the years they have been operating. Look at their quarterly 10Qs if you don't believe me. Part of the reason they haven't earned a profit is due to the tremendous litigation expenses associated with defending their intellectual property, not to mention that some of players in the DVR market (Echostar and certain cable companies) chose not to license TiVo's technology and undercut their price for service with cheaper knock-off designs.