Categories: Remotes

Logitech To Sell Harmony Remotes. All Of Them.

Logitech continues to struggle with their identity and revenue, given another quarter of “disappointing sales“. To right this ship, the company intends to double down on mobile accessories while sustaining their PC peripheral biz. Simultaneously, they plan to unload their Harmony remote and Logitech Alert security camera divisions. Logitech may no longer be interested in those businesses, yet management obviously feels there’s still some intrinsic value.

We’ve covered Harmony from pretty much Day 1 of this site. But our ties stretch even further – to the early 2000s. Prior to Logitech’s acquisition, Harmony hailed from Canada when their cutting edge thematic universal remote powered my projector and Lutron dimmers, along with an ever rotating array of set-top boxes and HTPCs. And it really was one remote to rule them all. However, in recent years, Logitech has let the Harmony line languish as they diverted resources towards that Google TV debacle. Fortunately, they regained interest and recently pushed out the Harmony Link mobile companion and Harmony Touch (which would have been a more compelling remote in 2009). I assume they have additional product in the pipeline, which we’re anxiously awaiting, but Harmony will clearly need a new champion going forward. From CEO Bracken Darrell:

Logitech just publicly announced a plan to hold the Harmony business for sale. Logitech is not shutting down the Harmony business and certainly not the service. This corporate announcement does not impact Logitech’s commitment to our Harmony customers. During the sale, Logitech will continue to provide customer support for Harmony customers. All current warranties provided by Logitech for Harmony products remain unchanged at this time. We very much appreciate our loyal Harmony community and will continue to support and communicate with our customers.

As to possible suitors, we have no solid leads. And, without inside info, the possibilities are endless. Having said that, Harman Kardon has been a repeated Harmony licensee. Like TiVo Tebow, their names sound kinda similar … which might be just enough to do a deal. ;)

Published by
Dave Zatz