In January 2013, Bracken Darrell took over as Logitech CEO in order to bring the company out of the perceived design slump that was the supposed cause of a $225 million loss in sales. He started off by basically copying the Apple playbook and focusing on design as the main selling point of products. So, instead of Logitech speakers looking like this:
Z623 with subwoofer, $129 on Amazon.
…the new products have to be sleek, hip, cool but cost at least twice as much.
Logitech Z600 speakers, no subwoofer, priced at $200 on Amazon
Predictably, just like Apple Computers became Apple, Logitech is now also shortening its name. There are other now-major tech companies that changed names—for example, Google was once known as BackRub, Yahoo! started off as Jerry’s Guide and Sony was Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK—but they had almost no brand recognition before the name change while Logitech does. The official reason for the name change is that “technology means nothing.”
To me, this seems like a great way to ruin a hefty amount of good reputation that Logitech accumulated over the years. This incessant focus on design as the main selling point worked for Apple, but I doubt it will work for Logitech because they lack a charismatic visionary like Steve Jobs at the helm. More likely is that we will see a deluge of overpriced, mediocre Logitech products with awesome design but minimal functionality.
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