The 2010 launch of Google TV ‘”a mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature,” says, Logitech Chief Executive Guerrino De Luca.
According to the Verge, Logitech Chief Executive has written off Google TV, a new experience that combines TV, the entire web, and apps — as well as a way to search across them all, as a “big mistake” that along with other “operational miscues” in Europe, the Middle East and Africa cost the company more than $100 million in operating profits. Logitech, a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms, is stopping production on the set-top boxes.
He said at an event for investor and analysts that his company would bring “closure” to the “saga,” which included abrupt price cuts to the Logitech Revue set-top boxes by letting the inventory run out this quarter.
Moreover, there are “no plans to introduce another box to replace Revue,” added De Luca.
Besides, he forecasted that the “grandchild of Google TV” might succeed but not the current product. He explained the logic behind his prediction saying, “For now, that leaves Sony televisions with the Google software for people looking for the Google TV experience.”
Media experts are considering the whole event as a major blow to Google’s TV aspirations.
In a post on the Motley Fool, analyst Rick Munarriz wrote that Google owes Logitech an apology.
“As the owner of a Google TV, I appreciate the software upgrade that the search giant rolled out earlier this month. It does improve the platform. The interface is more fluid. However, Google still needs to play nice with Tinseltown for this to revolutionize smart televisions. Consumers — like Logitech — feel duped, and now it seems as if it will take Apple’s inevitable dive into actual HDTVs to get this right.”
“Google can’t be right all of the time. For every Android hit, there will be a Google TV that stumbles out of the gate. However, it’s hard to blame Logitech for walking away as it licks its wounds. It’s hard to argue with De Luca’s painful assessment. Google owes Logitech an apology, though what would be even better is if finally takes Google TV to the next level to make Logitech regret that it ever left,” added Munarriz in that post.
