Last year we brought you the news that Logitech had launched a device called the Revue with Google TV. Well that device just didn’t sell well and now Logitech have called it a day on the device.
According to website TheVerge:
CEO Guerrino De Luca pulled absolutely no punches in describing the “mistakes” the company made with its Logitech Revue Google TV set top box. Calling the company’s Christmas 2010 launch “a mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature,” De Luca told investors that the company had “brought closure to the Logitech Revue saga” by making plans to let inventory run out this quarter and that there are “no plans to introduce another box to replace Revue.”
De Luca suggested that Google TV was far from ready at launch, going so far as to call it “beta” software on one presentation slide, and that the company made a massive misstep by believing that it would revolutionize television right out of the gate. In short, Logitech “executed a full scale launch with a beta product and it cost us dearly.” He added more color about Logitech’s failure to read the television market in his remarks:
To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300 […] that was a big mistake.
The mistake, plus “operational miscues in EMEA” cost the company “well over $100M in operating profits.” De Luca did throw Google a bone by saying that he believes Google TV will have a chance sometime in the future, but it would be a “grandchild of Google TV” that would do it. Logitech clearly has no plans to help make that happen, opting instead to sit “on the bench” (as De Luca had put it in an earlier call) until Google can find success.
Logitech posted this on their blog:
As our CEO Guerrino De Luca stated earlier this week, Logitech will not manufacture new Logitech Revue units. That said, we do believe that consumers in the U.S. will be able to purchase the product during this holiday season. And all owners of Logitech Revue will receive the automatic and free update of Google’s recently announced updated version of Google TV, which we expect to roll out before the end of the year.
So, just as I predicted the Logitech Revue with Google TV is dead.
Do you own one? Let us know your thoughts….
I just bought one. Would I have paid $300 for it? No. But I am definitely happy with it and see it as a $150-200 option. It works AMAZINGLY well with my TV / STB / AV receiver, with the infrared controls from the Revue being so strong that I don’t need the IR blasters even though the TV and AV are not in line of sight.
I mostly bought the Revue to retrofit my living room cheaply and to eval whether I wanted to spend the money on a Sony with Google TV in the bedroom once our remodel is done. And so far the answer is a resounding “yes”.
My biggest worry was that the box would complicate my living room further, as my older relatives hate trying to control even my DirecTV box … but over the years they’ve gotten the hang of the DirecTV box. It is quite smooth and they can continue to use the DirecTV box as they always have with the older remote. They don’t even need to know that I can use the Revue functions.
Does the software need toning down for the audience of a year or so ago? Sure. I see why the product failed. But … smartphones are quickly becoming commonplace and the interface is nearly IDENTICAL to using an Android phone. I think the audience is going to mature just as much as the product is going to be optimized for being simpler. Revue was simply ahead of its time.
thanks Geoff, it’s good to hear from someone who owns one!