Harmonic Convergence At Hand

PC peripherals maker Logitech's May acquisition of Intrigue Technologies and its Harmony line of remote controls position the company to take advantage of the convergence of the PC and entertainment worlds. Logitech president and CEO Guerrino De Luca spoke with s West Coast Bureau Chief Larry Hooper on the company's plan to move from the office to the living room.

DC: Logitech is known for nicely designed PC peripherals, wireless mice and keyboards. What prompted the move into remote controls for consumer devices?

DE LUCA: The acquisition of Intrigue Technologies and the Harmony remote line is the natural evolution of Logitech from the desk or the den or the office into the living room. We have been present in the living room mostly with our line of gaming devices and more recently with speakers. But this is the strongest move into the living room for us. We see the remote control as the mouse of the digital house.

DC: Why Intrigue and the Harmony remotes?

DE LUCA: From the way it is configured to the way it is used, I think it brings something else to the party. In terms of what we see in the marketplace, there are a lot of remotes that don't really do the job. They become the "nth plus one" remote in the living room. People have really big hopes, they buy it and eventually try it and they figure out at best, it does as bad a job as everything else they have. That's when they pay less than $50. Then you have the very high end in which a very professional installer comes and transforms this beautiful display-based remote into something that you will actually use, but it takes a very long time to set it up. But we are talking about $1,000 or $1,500. We felt that in the midrange--this $150 to $250 price point--there was nothing that combined the ease of use of the very high end with the simplicity and the ease of installation of a midrange remote.

DC: How does Harmony fit into your digital home strategy?

DE LUCA: We believe that digital devices will become more interconnected. We don't believe they will collapse into one. We believe the reverse is true. They will disperse. They will be more specialized and be in different parts of the home. I see convergence as convergence of usage, not convergence of devices. People will see their entertainment content as one thing, not as something dedicated to a particular device. As it disperses throughout the home, the need to control all of this and manage all of this increases. To me, that means the need for the point of control for the consumer will increase.

DC: So you see the Harmony remote as the interface to all of that content?

DE LUCA: Absolutely. I see it displaying the content for you, enabling you to control it, manipulate it, enjoy it.

DC: So how do you go to market with this? You have a strong retail presence now. Do you see the home integrator taking part?

DE LUCA: As these devices become simpler, they allow a degree of connectivity that is more complex. That creates the need for a sophisticated installer. We think Harmony fits there and fits with them. We already direct-market to installers, attend events and sell through specialist distributors. We really want to pursue the installer channel. But we do believe that the price points of Harmony also fit the needs of those who want to do these things themselves, so we will take advantage of the retail channel as well. We want to pursue both channels and we want to eventually have different products for each channel.

DC: Are you developing a program for the installer channel?

DE LUCA: I believe we will, yes. We are just starting, but you have to differentiate and develop programs for your different channels.

DC: What do you think the typical digital home integrator will look like as this market evolves?

DE LUCA: In my opinion, things won't change much in terms of who is going to win. People who understand consumers are going to win. I see this field of professional services growing. The reason for the growth is that as each of these devices becomes simpler to use, the connectivity among those devices increases. It's easy for consumers to understand how to operate one device, but not how to connect all of them. So the opportunity is for the installers who understand how people use the devices and adapt that to the available technology. The complexity of making that work for the customer will grow, and that means the installer has a bright future.