Logitech Harmony doomed?

jon s

Logitech posed a $200 million loss last quarter. Most of the loss is due to dismal sales of their Harmony universal remotes. Apparently the increased usage of smartphones and tablets remote apps has impacted sames of uni remotes. If you are thinking of buying one, get it sooner than later.

adabro

That's too bad - I love my Harmony One...

EndersShadow

Eh they are already looking to sell off the harmony brand and I am sure someone will buy it.

Their remotes work too good to not stay around.

specd_out

I love my one and I loved my 720. I sell these things at work but only the rare few will buy one. People just dont understand the value of having a controller like that. They see $25 or $250 and dont see the value.

Everyone that has purchased one though sings its praises.

treitz3

Not everyone loves their Harmony remote. I've had my Harmony 520 for years. Probably used it 10 times when I couldn't find the other remotes. Not a user friendly remote IMO.

Tom

AsSiMiLaTeD

I like the functionality, but like many other Logitech products they suffer from reliability issues.

EndersShadow

I think the older models were harder to use, but I must admit when I finally made time to program my Harmony One and the buttons/screen's right, its made my HT setup VERY easy.

My wife can even get into the configuration and setup menu's with ease.

VR3

I would much rather use a tablet/smartphone for a remote than a Harmony remote

scottyboy76

Can a tablet/smartphone app be programmed to do as many things as a dedicated logitech?

If so thats pretty awesome, huge screen, as many if not more buttons.

Coltsfan#1

I'd hate to see the Harmony remotes go away, as I absolutely love my Harmony One. They're just so convenient and easy to use.

cnh

Personally, I find a lot of their stuff overpriced. If you can use a device you already have, why should you bother with their remotes? They've got to be made in China and a lot of the price is profit, so how are they **** that model up? Sell 20-30+ times its cost and you still go broke? I guess it takes those brilliant CEOs who got their because they are the "best" among us, to do that, right?

cnh

grimmace19

I have the best of both worlds... the harmony link is fantastic. Using my ipad with the actual harmony software plus having the cable guide on the tablet screen is fantastic for my taste. All I have to say about logitech products are positive things.

Tornado Red

I have the 520 and have used it for years with my system, and I like it. But last year I had bought a new Yamaha receiver and found a switching issue I couldn't resolve. I contacted Logitech via email and was told, "yes, we have a fix for that"...for a small fee. We emailed back and forth for a bit, and he was adamant that it would not be released to me until I paid for it (off warranty). I phrased my last email to them in such a way not to accuse, but...seems you could leave a code or two off of a lot of new products and force people to, ah, well you get the drift. Never heard back from them. Though in retrospect, maybe it WAS something I said...

tonyb

The writeing is on the wall for these devices. The app market will sooner or later come out with universal apps to control everything. Making the smart phone....uh....smarter is the name of the game today.

zane77

I have two Harmony One's and a 650 a love all of themeasy to setup and great universal remotes, would hate to see them go away.

Toolfan66

I love my harmony one it's all I need to run my system...

TurboGTU

I just get my first harmony, love it, and look at this. Hopefully they will sell it to a company that will market them a little better.

zingo

Well, they already removed the Squeezebox brand, so this wouldn't surprise me...

ntculenuff

will be really interesting to see what will happen. I have been using/selling/programming Harmony for 10 years now. 880 pro was my first now I'm using a harmony one and have been looking at the touch (possibly pick up a 900 just to have since I don't need the rf as of now). I have customized mine to do all sorts of things. I don't ever have to grab an original device remote, if I do I just program the button into my harmony. Out of all the other universals I do like harmony the most, probably cause I am most comfortable with it. I have used and programmed others, I just find them bulky and complicated. throughout the years I have found the harmony to be the most user friendly, I have way less call backs compared to others. another nice feature is I can show the customer how to log in and hook up the remote this way if I need to make changes I can do it from my house and have them load the touch up.
Will definitely be keeping an eye them.

kuntasensei

I love my 880 and it still works like a champ. The Touch looks awful though.

Denzel

I have had the Harmony Touch for a couple months now, it is extremely user-friendly and responsive. I have had several Harmony models, the 520, 640 and the older 880. The only issues I have had were the original 880 had a terrible bought with charging issues (Logitech replaced the base eventually). I also purchased a Harmony Link about a year ago. I like to mess with the latest stuff (hence my collection). I see programmable remotes staying around... Custom HT installers that used AMX and have been used to the products that URC provide have been around for years will want to stay with that format for the ease to their customers. But I can also appreciate the depth and simplicity that the smart devices employ. I have the Integra iOS app for my DHC 40.2 and It can do some things that take 4-5 button pushes to get done with the remote. So I go with both.

Jimbo18

I got a Harmony 650 and love how easy it was to program.

The problem I found is that I use it in the bedroom, where I seldom wear my glasses to watch TV, and I can't read the screen. The buttons on a regular remote are no problem because you can more or less memorize what each one does and find it by feel, but I can't see the tiny screen without wearing reading glasses.

So I end up using 3 different remotes and the Harmony sits unused most of the time.

sodablue

Most devices have onscreen menus. So rather than having 100 custom buttons, all you really need is up/down/right/left and select. Then your usualy volume control, mute and channel selectors.

I have a Harmony One I bought back in 2005 or so, and the LCD screen broke when someone knocked it off the coffee table onto the wood floor. It's pretty much junk now.

We just use our DirecTV remote.

ntculenuff

At any given time I am turning on 3-5 devices in my main system so having the macros in universal remotes is the only way to go for me. And as I stated above I do like Harmony. I do use my phone/tablet for second zone use.
If a person only has a few devices a universal is really not to necessary. I do have a few clients that like the ease of the macros cause they forget how to switch between dvd and cable/sat.

cstmar01

I had the 1100 and only reason why I sold it was because I took apart my HT so didn't really need it. However when I had it I loved it. Worked great for my HT with the projector and everything in the system. Took 9 remotes down to 1 with easy to program stuff.

I do think they have terrible marketing. No one ever hears about them. I had a friend always wonder what I had when he came by and said he had never even heard of one and he's running a decent HT system ( my old Monitor 70s haha) and has like 8 or 9 remotes and his wife can never figure stuff out. Heck when he bought his AVR from Best Buy about 2 years ago they didn't even talk to him about it and said to just use the remotes in the box and he could program those...lame...

ntculenuff

cstmar01 wrote: »

Heck when he bought his AVR from Best Buy about 2 years ago they didn't even talk to him about it and said to just use the remotes in the box and he could program those...lame...

Typical Best Buy, they really don't care what you get and how it will work for you (or how it might actually work in general). It is sad but it is just a job to the majority of BB employees. When I first moved to AZ I picked up part time employment at BB in their HT (magnolia) dept. until I got to know the area and some people. I would get a kick out of the veteran sales guys coming up to test me and I would just roll right over their heads talking about ways to hook things up and equip they never heard of. Not saying I know everything but I have been around this industry for a long time.
OK Best Buy rant over, sorry :rolleyes:

WilliamM2

My wife couldn't even use the system until I got the 520 in 2006. It's still working perfectly, and I liked it enough to buy a spare in 2007 in case it ever breaks. It's programmed and ready to go, otherwise unused. Most the newer models seem to be overkill for my needs. Hopefully they will still continue to support them, even if they are quit making remotes. Otherwise they will all be worthless when you add a new component.

I've used other learning universal remotes since the 80's, but no one but me could ever figure out how to use them.

billbillw

I've done my part. I own 4 of the suckers. Might even grab another 650 if I can find a deal, perfect for smaller systems like the bedroom.