Logitech Kills Harmony Universal Remote Business

Tsing

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Popular computer peripherals and software maker Logitech has decided to step away from its business of selling Harmony universal remotes. A company representative confirmed the news in a post made yesterday on Logitech’s official support site, which noted that these devices would no longer be manufactured going forward. Logitech will, however, continue to support existing Harmony universal remotes and maintain their database and software. Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell hinted that he’d be killing off his company’s Harmony business back in 2019 by suggesting that universal remotes were no longer relevant in the modern world of streaming devices.



Logitech has killed its vaunted line of Harmony universal remotes. @benpatt has the details, here...
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I guess I better buy another remote just to be safe.
 
Ugh this hurts me right in the balls. I have 2 Harmony 650's and one of them is acting up. Replacements are now $100 (if you can even find a new one) and I think I paid $50 for them brand new.

I did notice some chinesium universal remotes on Amz... I guess this is what I'll have to do if it dies on me. Not really wanting to go back to 4 remotes on my coffee table

 
The hub with the phone app was the best thing they ever made. The actual remotes I never liked
 
A little sad, though basically sweared them off. 2 times buttons failed too fast (for a remote) yes I remaped some stuff , but then others failed, so it was a pita. This was 2 remotes I had. The product is genius really, the software is great too. For my experience it was the failing of buttons (hardware) that made me a non consumer, and a non recommender.
This division needed better hardware QA and work, and an infusion of money for advertising and a simplified product line. Ironically they got the often harder part down quite well , the software be it the programming part of it or the software of the remotes themselves both great in my experience.
This closure is a mistake on their part. Though I am sure they ain't making money on it, they probably don't know why, and aren't even trying to find out, they probably just think oh well, there is no market..
 
At this point, I haven't used my Harmony remotes in years. However, I still have the Harmony Hub hooked up to SmartThings and from there Amazon's Alexa which covers turning on/off the activities. That gets used all the time... the remote I've more or less got covered by the Roku remote as it can do volume now and the Harmony remote is a lousy Roku remote due to lag...
 
I always wanted one of these, just never had the justification for the 'full' setup.

I think the bigger issue affecting marketability is that in simple setups these just aren't needed. Streaming has led to an even greater simplification too. Right now, the only time I need a remote other than the remote I use for the streaming device hooked up to a TV is if I need to use another input. For the living room TV, that's the Blu-ray player (like, rare), and for the bedroom, that's switching the HDMI input for laptop use, because the receiver is so old that it adds hundreds of milliseconds of input lag. Fine for streaming, no go for desktop :).

And in both cases it's a matter of using just one other remote.


Now, for a more 'integrated' setup, say with gaming consoles and the like, multiple streaming boxes, dedicated HTPC, and so on (I guess?), I can see the value of these, but I think the broad market appeal just isn't there. HDCP has covered most of what Logitech was doing with their Harmony series pretty well.

Last, it's Logitech. I won't say that they have a bad reputation, because they don't, and they do make many quality products, but they also do make 'cheap' products and products that fail where they shouldn't. And that's regardless of product tier. I think it's also important to keep the primary customer base for these in mind: most folks just have zero clue when it comes to home theater stuff and if they have a problem, which they almost certainly can't properly articulate, they're also almost certainly not looking to Logitech to provide the solution.

Which is unfortunate I think!
 
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