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Logitech CEO Wants to Sell You a Subscription-Based 'Forever Mouse' (gizmodo.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

29 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18112704

During a recent episode of The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber shed some possible insight into the company’s view on one of its most important products. Saying that “the mouse built this house,” Faber shares the planning behind a Forever Mouse, a premium product that the company hopes will be the last you ever have to buy. There’s also a discussion about a subscription-based service and a deeper focus on AI.

For now, details on a Forever Mouse are thin, but you better believe there will be a catch. The Instant Pot was a product so good that customers rarely needed to buy another one. The company went bankrupt.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Hah. Are you kidding me? There are people out there spending hundreds of dollars on DIY keyboards and fancy keycaps. Microsoft started selling $200 console controllers and now it's a whole market segment.

She has the right idea with making unreasonably expensive mice, she just hasn't realized the Linus Tech Tips fanbase can be tricked into buying one of those every six months with enough influencer lubrication, so she has no need for a subscription model.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And what exactly is innovative about that? They're trying to replicate a Model M. A keyboard older than most keyboard users.

Mechanical keyboards are gimmicks, nothing more.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Exactly.

And they sell like hot cakes and are a sustainable market segment full of boutique houses and specialty retailers.

You can absolutely substitute luxury and design for feature innovation in tech accessories and make money.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is a niche. Logitech doesn't make its billions in revenue selling a handful of specialty keyboards. And that trend will subside soon, too.

Logitech makes money by selling hundreds of millions of generic mice, keyboards, webcams, etc. That's where the money is. And if these devices don't break, why buy new ones? A 20 years old usb mouse is still perfectly usable (I'm using one right now), that's not good for business. So either you have to cater to fads like mechanical keyboards, which don't really add anything, or sell crap like subscriptions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They already don't break, is the thing. When was the last time you replaced a mouse because it broke?

The last maybe three mice I bought were for ergonomics or to color-coordinate a setup. And once to see if a light one would be better than a tall one for my particular damage. It was not.

So if I'm already buying mice for reasons other than durability, why not sell me the most expensive one you can sell me?

Also, not sure how much of a "niche" mechanical keyboards are, considering that Logitech will happily sell you one right now for 250 bucks. Best selling one in its segment, too. I was eyeing a Corsair one for almost 400 recently. Asus has a refresh for its 500 dollar Azoth Extreme coming up, I believe.

Expensive peripherals may sell fewer units, and I don't know how the margins compare, but 500 dollars is a lot of 20 buck membrane keyboards.