Announcement: Harmony Remote Manufacturing, Service and Support Update
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Hello folks,
We have been getting questions from the community surrounding the future of Harmony, and we’re here with an official update.
While Harmony remotes are and continue to be available through various retailers, moving forward Logitech will no longer manufacture Harmony remotes.
We expect no impact to our customers by this announcement. We plan to support our Harmony community and new Harmony customers, which includes access to our software and apps to set up and manage your remotes. We also plan to continue to update the platform and add devices to our Harmony database. Customer and warranty support will continue to be offered.
We thank all members of the Harmony community, for allowing us into your living rooms and entertainment stacks. Please visit the Q&A below for further information.
-Will from Harmony.
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Is Logitech selling/closing/discontinuing Harmony? Logitech has made the decision to discontinue manufacturing Harmony remotes. Remaining Harmony remote inventory will continue to be available through retailers for new customers, and support will continue to be offered.
Does this mean Logitech is no longer innovating on Harmony and designing new Harmony products? Yes. Remaining Harmony remote inventory will continue to be available through retailers for new customers and support will continue to be offered.
Does this mean Logitech will no longer be maintaining the Harmony database and software? No. Logitech plans to continue maintaining the Harmony database and software.
What’s the last day we can buy/find a Harmony? As supplies last at your retailers.
What happens to my warranty? The decision to end manufacturing does not change your Harmony’s warranty - https://www.logitech.com/footer/terms-of-use?id=3101.
What does the future hold for Harmony? Logitech plans to continue service and support for Harmony remotes.
Can you keep the service on so my remote will still work? Yes. Customers can continue to enjoy what they’ve always enjoyed about Harmony: a powerful universal remote control in a world with many devices connected to the TV.
I use my Harmony with Alexa and Google, will the integrations with 3rd parties change? This decision only impacts the manufacturing of new Harmony remotes. We plan to continue to offer service and support.
Will my Harmony remote be impacted? When? There should be no impact with existing Harmony customers, we plan to continue to offer service and support.
How long will you keep the service and support going really? Our goal is to keep service running as long as customers are using it.
When you say I’ll continue to get service and support, what does that mean? We plan to continue to make updates to the Harmony desktop software and Harmony apps for Android/iOS. Our support team will continue to be available, and we will continue to offer resources such as FAQs on support.myharmony.com.
I just bought a Harmony, can I get a refund? Please refer to the return policy from the place of purchase. No exceptional refunds will be given as the Harmony service and customer support are not impacted.
Will Logitech do anything for me for my inconvenience? We do not expect your Harmony experience to be impacted as a result of this decision.
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Given the way the 64-bit MacOS software was handled, I fully expect promises of continued support, only for things to be completely shut down in 8 months bricking our hardware for good. Unfortunately, all the other universal remote companies think their customers are too stupid to program a remote and have no software for customers to officially download.
Our only hope is for the Harmony brand to be sold to a competent company. I heard apple sucks at making remotes and has some money in the bank.
😡😡😡
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I really dont understand the reason, being more people using streaming services. Those streaming services need apps and a TV is not the best platform for these apps. Those apps quickly become obsolete on a tv and we re not going to buy new tvs to keep up with those app updates. So an other device next to a tv is needed, two remotes already. Second reason, the next competitive feature for streaming services is sound quality , something like atmos. This also does not work on a tv, an other device needed, 3 remotes now. So I fail to see how using streaming services will reduce the number of remotes used by people.
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A very sad day indeed. Like many I have used harmony remotes for years with 2 in use in my house. When I heard this news I immediately started looking for competitors and of course they’re aren’t any :-(
Hopefully the sevenhugs company will make a product with physical buttons but now they won’t have to compete with Logitech so I wonder if they will bother?
Can’t you just sell the business line to someone?? -
Logitech management - please reconsider the decision to discontinue the Harmony product line. The profusion of AV and home automation technology is welcomed by most people, but that doesn’t mean everyone can easily “make it work.” Harmony allows non-techies at our home to successfully navigate different programming sources, differing brands of TVs/DVD players/AV receivers/streaming devices, an AV matrix switch, lighting, etc. - all because the buttons on each of 4 Harmony Elite remotes ARE THE SAME, regardless of the room/location. Without Harmony, they wouldn’t even know which of 6-7 remotes to pickup and no clue how to make all the systems work as a cohesive whole. There is and *will continue to be* a strong on-going need for this type of product. If sales are lagging, perhaps a price adjustment to increase affordability is the solution? Or how about a nominal fee subscription service to ensure integration with new devices and on-going support? If nothing else, please consider release of some software that will allow present users to continue updating their systems on their own without cloud reliance. I hope to continue to leverage our sizable Harmony investment for years to come.
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For those who want to sign the petition to get Harmony back here it is!
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In addition to the petition above, I've made one to ask Logitech to open source it:
Let's also sign this and see how they react.
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It's all too late to ask for changing their decision, milk already got spilled. They now only officially confirmed what actually happened months ago - Harmony remotes started to disappear from online stores/retailers in late 2020 already, now what's left is from retailers warehouses only.
If I knew about it earlier, I would purchase another Elite to keep it as spare to my current Elite, which I have owned for past few years (and it's been like 13 years since I purchase my first Harmony remote, I had three others before - I even do not remember the oldest one, then 885, 900 and now Elite). Now new stock is almost gone, all is left are used ones and highly overpriced. Now we, home theater enthusiasts, can only cry. Nothing lasts forever.
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Please reconsider the decision! I have a Harmony Touch from 2011. I reliably control five devices with it and I am very satisfied with it. Unfortunately, the battery is now very weak. I had planned to replace the old Harmony Touch with a Harmony 950 very soon. Please keep producing this remote control!
V.Schmidt, Germany -
Not a fan of this move... I own two Hubs and a harmony remote. I really wish Logitech would clarify if they will stop manufacturing the Harmony Hub as well. I can see the rationale behind just the remotes with many users using Alexa or Google to trigger their Harmony Hub scenes.
For my wife, and my relatives when they visit, all utilize the harmony remote. It's just more comfortable for them. They prefer that over remembering which 'scene' name they needed vs. "just hit this one button here".
Gut check - this seems like a decision made on bad data from Logitech's side.
I've been buying Logitech for years... I probably won't stop.
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How long will you keep the service and support going really? Our goal is to keep service running as long as customers are using it.
So basicaly, when there won't be "enough" users to your taste, you'll shut down servers eventually, and then we'll juste have to throw everything out of the window ?
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I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that Service and Support will continue as we’re being told. Some top-level poor management decisions caused this product discontinuance in the first place. It was a loser of a business model to think that a company could produce superior, long-lasting hardware that requires a service, support, and cloud infrastructure... while only making money on the hardware. But that’s the key here... if they only make money on the hardware, which they are now discontinuing- I don’t care what they say... they are not going to keep up with Service, Support, and Cloud FOR FREE for very long. Making this promise is simply a way to try to do damage control at this moment. My guess is that by end 2021, all services related to Harmony products will be gone.
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PKHarmony - thank you for the response! I appreciate the clarification that the Hub line is continued as well. I'm disappointed to see the Harmony product line manufacturing discontinued, but I appreciate the communication.
I had a few more questions I thought about while buying up another Elite from Best Buy;
- In addition to mobile app updates will customers still get updates for newly supported AV Receivers, TVs, Blu-Ray players, gaming systems, etc.? (I'm not sure if this is what was meant by the 'database' being maintained in Will's original post)
- In the event of a hub or remote hardware failure, will Logitech offer paid repairs to the units, or will there be some mechanism (3rd party, etc.) to order parts and repair them?
- In addition to the software updates, will there be any firmware updates released for the remote and hub units?
Thanks,
-JW
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Logitech,
Have you considered asking customers to subscribe and pay for support going forward?
I am sure existing customers who really like and need their Harmony Remotes to keep working would be willing to pay a yearly fee for support and then you'd perhaps be able to not lose $$ supporting us for many more years to come (until another company can step in and build a better remote).
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Hi, This is the best product I have used so far and have been hooked on to it for last 14 years. I have three remotes for three different rooms and was planning to replace one with a newer model. Can you consider spinning off the product so it has a life? The other option could be to make it open source.
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I owned a lot of harmony remotes, even before they were part of Logitech (EasyZapper, remember anyone?) and still using (and loving) the Elite and Ultimate almost every day. There is no alternative product for the HT market with more complex setup than the basic TV+Soundbar. I'm very disappointed about the discontinuation and hope that
- my Elite and Ultimate won't break and
- Logitech does not shutdown the setup-service
within the next few years.
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To someone who asked above, Harmony hubs started to disappear from local (Polish) market somewhere in early 2020. I still see them listed on amazon.de but for much higher cost than they used to cost a year ago. So I'm guessing they are no longer in production either :-(
In terms of support - I doubt it will continue for long. I noticed obvious bug in Elite's firmware, reported it, it got confirmed, to be fixed in future. Still not fixed and a year has passed since then... There's o obvious lack of appetite to maintain this product anymore.
Logitech must be a rich company since they are ceasing product line that was 6% of their business. I'm guessing it wasn't profitable enough and corporations are ruthless - if it doesn't make enough profit, we terminate it, even though we have loyal customers. They will moan but will still be buying our keyboards/mice and even if they don't, it is still a small portion of our customer base...
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JW Merrow, Moving forward Logitech will no longer manufacture Harmony remotes & hubs. Please find below the answers.
- Yes, we will continue to add new devices to the Harmony database.
- Your second question is already answered in the original post. What happens to my warranty? The decision to end manufacturing does not change your Harmony’s warranty - https://www.logitech.com/footer/terms-of-use?id=3101. With regards to repair, currently, we do not provide any repair services for Harmony remotes. If you're out of warranty, you can check with any third-party service provider.
- Yes
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I would like to add a second comment. I agree with the others here. I will still try and support Logitech as a company but if you no longer want to participate in this space, please license out or open source the database to not brick this entire segment. Or just have limited support for one remote like the 950 or Elite.
This is very sad and I hope Logitech can update this post with at least some recognition of our feedback as loyal customers. -
It is just absolutely incorrect for Logitech to think that streaming services mean less of a need for a universal remote. We still have to switch inputs, navigate those streamers and their myriad apps, control volume, change channels, and do all the things cursor keys do from device to device. I challenge those at Logitech making this decision to operate their own home systems without a Harmony.
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You understand it, I understand it, we understand it. I have TV set, cable STB, A/V receiver and two Linux boxes (ATV4K, nV Shield). Without Harmony Remote I would need 5 remotes to control all of that. Try to teach my wife how to control all of that.
Logitech does not care about it, profit reigns, they just needed a smooth excuse, which doesn't have to make sense to anyone (especially to product customers) but sounds good in news portals.
On the other hand 99% of people out there owns just the TV and YT or NF client built into their smart TV, which will get obsolete after 1-2 years with no software updates and they will buy a new TV then :-(
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I also disagree about how streaming services remove the need for universal remotes. Even with something like a Fire TV without a universal remote like a Harmony, I would require 3 remotes plus using an app to turn on my projector, receiver, set the correct input on the projector and receiver, wake up the Fire TV and close my blinds as opposed to one activity on the Harmony remote. Additionally I have other devices like a PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X which are also connected to my receiver so I would need to do similar operations to use those.
HDMI-CEC is not really a solution as from my experience it does not work very well especially when multiple devices are active and one device always overrides the input. With the Harmony I can easily do something like turn on my Xbox, update firmware, go and watch some TV using the Fire TV and then switch back to the Xbox periodically to check if it has finished.
Unless people are only using a smart TV with no external audio, the streaming service argument is complete garbage as people still need single remote solutions that avoid the need for multiple remotes.
I also agree with issues with the vague timeframe for supporting the service i.e. as long as customers are using it. What is the data point for that?
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Logitech may think that we're just a noisy few. No, we are the few plugged into this news. I work in the Pro AV industry and can't think of a better solution than Harmony. The real problems will arise when the silent masses who don't see this coming realize the hard way that they can't buy a replacement handset or a new Harmony for the bedroom... when they can't add a new device or change the behavior of an existing one. I've seen this movie before, from both sides, and it does not end well.
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Kelvin is right. We are really just a few geeks who know and care about such things, but this is not going to be pretty when the dog eats the remote for the average Joe. Most people spend their hard earned money when they buy into, and believe in, something like the "Logitech Magic". A dumb, shortsighted, thoughtless, unnecessary way to let loyal customers down. I know, Logi has done well recently, and the CEO has 87 mil in stock, but he needs to get out more. New things are happing and old values count. The statement that streaming will make my Elite obsolete is ridiculous and uninformed.
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BJBBJB, thank you for your kind words. You made my day! Being a Harmony user and in the Harmony support team for 10+ years, it is a sad news for me as well. However, Logitech is committed to continuing the service and support for Harmony products. So, my team and I will continue to be here to assist the customers to enjoy their Harmony.
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