Logitech has announced it will halt production of its Revue set-top box, calling it a "mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature." At an Analyst and Investor Day hosted by Logitech on Wednesday, CEO Guerrino De Luca said the company's Google TV plans cost them over $100 million in operating profit. As a result, the firm will simply let existing inventory of the Revue run out this quarter and has no plans to replace it with a new set-top box model.
The executive admitted that Logitech thought Google's TV platform was revolutionary but in reality it wasn't quite ready for primetime. "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," De Luca said.
The long-awaited 2.0 update to Google TV was finally announced late last month, a year after the software's initial launch. Although it brings a number of enhancements, including a cleaner interface and support for Android apps, it was a case of too little, too late for the Revue, which was slashed to $99 in August in an effort to boost slumping sales.
De Luca said Google TV could have a chance of success in the future, but it would be a "grandchild" of the current version. And while he's clearly upset with how the partnership turned out, one has to wonder if their over optimistic $300 price target had as much to do with Google TV's failure as the software itself. After all, the most successful set-top boxes in the market have been less powerful, low-priced devices such as the $59-$99 Roku.