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Lightspeed Research: Europeans Spend Billions on Home Entertainment Technology They Cannot Control (27/3/2008)

Households across Europe are full of expensive technology that most people do not know how to control, according to a study released today and commissioned by Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) (SWX:LOGN). It is estimated that Europeans have at least €362 billion worth of TVs, HiFis, speakers, video and DVD players, digital recorders and satellite boxes in their homes, with the true value probably being several billions more. In spite of this, in 24 percent of European households only one person knows how to control all the technology in their home.

The Logitech study, undertaken by Lightspeed Research, demonstrates the huge expense and complexity involved in acquiring and making use of technology commonly found in the home. Most households have spent thousands of Euros on home entertainment, yet the majority of people in each household are unable to do simple tasks like watching a DVD or recording a TV programme.

The source of the problem seems to be the sheer complexity of technology in the home - 49 percent of households have five or more remote controls and 87 percent have three or more. Yet one in four Europeans have a very untechnical solution to the problem: written instructions for their loved ones explaining how to control their system (otherwise known as a cheat sheet).

Logitech's answer to this problem is its range of Logitech(r) Harmony(r) advanced universal remote controls. These have quickly become the most popular brand of advanced universal remotes in the U.S. marketplace, and a rapidly growing force in Europe, because of the Harmony platform's simple one-touch activity control. Users need only to press a single button and the Harmony remote will control all the technology devices necessary for them to watch TV, listen to music or record a film. It is no surprise that the market for learnable and pre-programmable remote controls has grown by 31 percent year on year in value terms across the three biggest markets of France, Germany and the UK, according to GfK. These remote controls, such as the Logitech Harmony remote, are fast replacing all the remote controls cluttering people's coffee tables.

"We commissioned our study to establish the true gap between the money Europeans are investing in technology in their home and their ability to control that technology," said Gregor Bieler, vice president of Logitech's consumer electronics unit in Europe. "Today's home entertainment systems are getting increasingly expensive and complex but people's needs do not change - they just want their technology to work. The growth we see in our Harmony business demonstrates we have the perfect solution to this growing problem."

Logitech's latest Harmony remote - the Harmony(r) One - marks a significant leap in the evolution of the best-selling line. Offering the same one-touch, activity-based control as other Harmony remotes, the Harmony One makes controlling home entertainment even easier with a full-colour touch screen, an intuitive button layout and an exceptionally comfortable user-friendly design. The product received the CES 2008 Design and Engineering Award: Best of Innovations in Home-Entertainment Accessories at the beginning of the year.

The Harmony One is already available in Europe for a suggested retail price of €199.99.

www.logitech.com