Logitech Revue Slashed To $99 After Poor Sales [UPDATED]
by Jason Inofuentes on July 28, 2011 2:06 PM ESTIt hasn't been a great year for Logitech, and that's owing in part to the failure of their Google TV platform to take off in a market filled with cheaper alternatives. Amidst their dismal Q1 Financial Statement, Logitech announced that they would be slashing the price of the Logitech Revue below cost in order to boost sales. The box was somewhat well received by reviewers, but the original price of $299 was a sore spot, and the previously discounted $249 price garnered no favor. At $99, though, Google TV is now competing with the likes of Roku and Apple TV, still a tough fight, but not nearly so unbalanced by price.
This is, of course, all as the Google TV 2.0 update is in process, and the opportunity to run Android apps on the big screen for $99 could be a truly enticing opion. It's unclear when this pricing will take affect, but it'll be interesting to see if future Google TV product pursue this aggressive pricing. We hope to get a chance to chat with Logitech reps soon so stay tuned and post any questions you might have.
Source: Logitech
UPDATE: Per Logitech PR, we have a few clarifications. First, as many have noticed, the Revue's $99 price is now live. Further, Logitech wanted to emphasize that the Revue was not being sold below cost, merely at a discount, this is possibly an accounting matter as there's no denying that Logitech already charged themselves $34 million this quarter as a cost of this discount. Lastly, reports that the Revue had negative sales this quarter, that is that a greater number of units were returned than sold is erroneous. The figures invovled are actually regarding channel returns, units that sat on store shelves long enough that they were sent back by the retailer. So, that's not really much consolation. It's not that it was returned too much. It never sold at all. The good news? The Google TV 2.0 update has leaked and adventurous users are welcome to see what's in store.
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notty22 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
I find the evolving story interesting. 99 Dollars for a device that offers connectivity to Internets ever expanding content is worth a BUY. IMHO. Hopefully the discounts will extend to the proprietary video camera used for video chat. Making the idea interesting for long distance families, being able to reunion on their televisions.Gadgets such as these expose less tech savvy to cutting edge PC goodies. At this price, more will adopt.
steven75 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
For anyone with an iOS device, the Apple TV is still a better buy for AirPlay alone, especially with the iOS 5 features such as iPad2 wireless mirroring.quiksilvr - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
Go away troll, we like Netflix and web browsing without having the need to get another device.d.rock - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
AppleTV2 has Netflix. And he's right -- for iOS users AirPlay + AppleTV2 is probably a more compelling solution than Google TV at this point.KoolAidMan1 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Yup, also any PC/Mac through iTunes. It works really really well and its affordable. GoogleTV priced itself out compared to better solutions like the AppleTV and Roku from go, and even at the same price it currently isn't worth getting over those. Its no wonder it failed.JasonInofuentes - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - link
No need to call names. Remember, this is Apple's strategy, and it does make for a very compelling ecosystem. There's no arguing that buying into an entirely Apple environment makes for some incredibly high ease of use and a broad feature set. And, given how effective AirPlay is and what sort of potential it has there's no doubt in my mind that anyone with an iPhone should pick up an Apple TV just for the simplicity. It beats hooking up a mini-HDMI cord any day.rs2 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
Apple *anything* is never a better buy. Unless you enjoy getting ripped off.KoolAidMan1 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Right, and the Revue at $300 was so much better than the equally or more capable AppleTV or Roku at $100.Fanboys of any stripe are hilarious.
MagickMan - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
No way I'd pay $300, or even $250, but for $99 I'll try it out. My Dish DVR even has support for it, so this has turned into a Must Buy for me.jjdenhup - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
i'll wait and see how Google TV2.0 actually runs on the thing before purchase...i mean, it's not like they'll raise the price back up if i wait a few more months.