lilyoyo1 Posted November 28, 2020 Posted November 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, larryllix said: Time will tell. By the last decade of empty promises, I doubt anything will change with Insteon's marketing, or products , until they fold up. The corporate struggling you revealed, makes that fairly clear. Once again, the corporate struggling I mentioned was under the old regime and is even older news. Has nothing to do with today. I was offering insight to a statement that you made that was based off years old stuff.
Michel Kohanim Posted November 29, 2020 Posted November 29, 2020 @lilyoyo1, Thanks so very much for your words of encouragement and comfort. My complaints are pretty selfish: not one day goes by that we don't get support tickets from customers whose PLMs have died. Spending time and resources to help SmartHome with their messaging is extremely taxing. Especially since we are also in the dark. I want to stress that, as business owners, they have every right to do whatever they want that makes sense for their business (including complete termination of products/PLMs/etc.). This said, in my view, it would be so much more honorable if they could have a link, official post, or anything else that would allow us and our customers to make informed decisions rather than having to speculate and hope. Thanks again. With kind regards, Michel 5
lilyoyo1 Posted November 29, 2020 Posted November 29, 2020 12 minutes ago, Michel Kohanim said: @lilyoyo1, Thanks so very much for your words of encouragement and comfort. My complaints are pretty selfish: not one day goes by that we don't get support tickets from customers whose PLMs have died. Spending time and resources to help SmartHome with their messaging is extremely taxing. Especially since we are also in the dark. I want to stress that, as business owners, they have every right to do whatever they want that makes sense for their business (including complete termination of products/PLMs/etc.). This said, in my view, it would be so much more honorable if they could have a link, official post, or anything else that would allow us and our customers to make informed decisions rather than having to speculate and hope. Thanks again. With kind regards, Michel You're more than welcome Michel. I wish they would work harder on improving their messaging. Do leaks or something. It's sad because they have a group that truly wants to see insteon succeed and work towards delivering the best system possible. Unfortunately, there are some hold overs who still hold onto whatever they think insteon should be which brings the company down. 2
stealle Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 I emailed smart home about the Insteon On/Off module 2635-222. The response I got is pretty concerning. I can’t believe something as basic as the plug-in on/off outlet switch has been discontinued. Anyone else hear any news about Insteon? “We had escalated the issue to our resources, and we got an update stating that On/Off Module is a discontinued product and we do not have any immediate plans to bring On/Off Module back in due to limited sales.” 3
MrBill Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 26 minutes ago, stealle said: I emailed smart home about the Insteon On/Off module 2635-222. The response I got is pretty concerning. I can’t believe something as basic as the plug-in on/off outlet switch has been discontinued. Anyone else hear any news about Insteon? “We had escalated the issue to our resources, and we got an update stating that On/Off Module is a discontinued product and we do not have any immediate plans to bring On/Off Module back in due to limited sales.” I haven't asked but I've been watching for 2845 Hidden Door Sensors to come back in stock for over a year now, I check several times a month and have filled out the request to be emailed when they are back in stock, seems like a really long time to be out-of-stock... pandemic or not... @Scottmichaeljsold me 4 used recently so my need has been fulfilled. None of us have any idea what they are up to.... there's one person that participates in this forum that vociferously defends smarthome and Insteon but for the most part they seem to be re-trackting the product line in ways that don't make sense. From my point of view I don't think they understand how the market and competition have changed, with the exception of the product discontinuations they seem to be following marketing strategies that are 10-15-20 years old in a market that has matured. Maybe they have a replacement product for 2635 or 2845 that is better but just hasn't been announced... but they may loose market foothold in the process if they keep those spots (and potentially others) in the product line empty for too long. 1
larryllix Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, stealle said: I emailed smart home about the Insteon On/Off module 2635-222. The response I got is pretty concerning. I can’t believe something as basic as the plug-in on/off outlet switch has been discontinued. Anyone else hear any news about Insteon? “We had escalated the issue to our resources, and we got an update stating that On/Off Module is a discontinued product and we do not have any immediate plans to bring On/Off Module back in due to limited sales.” Very scary! Very hard to compete with On/Off plugs found in Wallymart and grocery stores for less than $10 though. The lay person isn't going to go for a $100 hub plus the $40-70 plug-in to operate the first receptacle switch they buy. In stock. Remember the Canuck buck is about 30% less then USD https://www.aartech.ca/2635-222/insteon-dual-band-on-off-plug-in-appliance-module.html https://www.newegg.com/p/09Z-01ZP-00001?Description=insteon&cm_re=insteon-_-9SIAB0M44F3036-_-Product Looks like a lot of "I told you so"s coming. Edited March 2, 2021 by larryllix
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) They arent going anywhere. The problem they are having is getting the chips needed to power them. The same issue that other mfg. are starting to have as well including the auto industry. Its amazing how much information is out there but noone seems to pay any attention to it. Edited March 2, 2021 by lilyoyo1
stealle Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 31 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: They arent going anywhere. The problem they are having is getting the chips needed to power them. The same issue that other mfg. are starting to have as well including the auto industry. Its amazing how much information is out there but noone seems to pay any attention to it. The 2635-222 has been discontinued not backordered. That has nothing to do with low supply of chips. Amazing how you missed that. An outlet switch is one of the most basic devices for home automation. Not a good sign to discontinue that device. Unless as MrBill suggested they are coming out with a new model in which case it’s poor marketing.
carealtor Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 I'm going to choose to believe that this was accidental or misinformed response. My brain, my choice. 2
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 Just now, stealle said: The 2635-222 has been discontinued not backordered. That has nothing to do with low supply of chips. Amazing how you missed that. An outlet switch is one of the most basic devices for home automation. Not a good sign to discontinue that device. Unless as MrBill suggested they are coming out with a new model in which case it’s poor marketing. I guess their Customer support never gives wrong information. According to my sources its not disco'd but currently on hold
MrBill Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 51 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: Its amazing how much information is out there but noone seems to pay any attention to it. Which information? I've not had trouble with anything else I've tried to buy being out of stock for a year. Smarthome is literally the only company that I see struggling. I placed a large order in China in January for LEDs strips and parts, I worked on the putting the order together with one of their reps over several days and in the friendly conversations I had with them they said "its business as usual" since last summer, and that literally nothing is out of stock. They sell stuff they made as well as parts they've bought from other companies for resale.... sure that is a limited view but 100% of my order was in stock, and she told me literally everything is in-stock now and they have 1000's of items. They got my paypal at like 3am Monday morning Hong Kong time, and by Noon Friday in the US my order was delivered in full via DHL. I don't know of any company with parts that are consistently out of stock like Insteon. Besides what I want to purchase, I read at least the headlines on wapo, nytimes, cnet, cnn, abc, and sometimes wsj everyday. I would any read any articles talking about "the auto industry is suffering because they can't get chips" or any other supply shortage, particularly as it relates to home automation. In fact in other news on the pandemic most countries have recovered far better than the US has. I don't see the major supply problems that you keep mentioning. Another indicator is the stock market... if "big tech" was facing supply chain uncertainty market values would reflect it. 8 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: I guess their Customer support never gives wrong information. According to my sources its not disco'd but currently on hold It's sad if they did make a mistake like that. It shouldn't be hard to get correct if the part is discontinued. I'm also not sure what "on hold" means exactly. You also seem to get insider information that no one else is privey too... which is great for you and you only.
MrBill Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 @carealtor I love your forum signature, is that new?
MrBill Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 5 hours ago, stealle said: I emailed smart home about the Insteon On/Off module 2635-222. The response I got is pretty concerning. I can’t believe something as basic as the plug-in on/off outlet switch has been discontinued. Anyone else hear any news about Insteon? “We had escalated the issue to our resources, and we got an update stating that On/Off Module is a discontinued product and we do not have any immediate plans to bring On/Off Module back in due to limited sales.” It did occur to me since I first responded in this thread, that i was waiting on those to be in stock last Summer, they were out of stock for months and were back in stock "around Black Friday" I don't know when they went out of stock again. Honestly I ended up not waiting, I needed 4 heavy duty on/off modules for a project of my wife's. I ended up using Kasa Smart Plugs, for half the price of ONE Insteon module I got 4 of the Kasa plugs. If you have Polisy there is a nodeserver for Kasa. After that 4, I purchased another 8.... Saved a lot of money, and they work everybit as well even in scenes with other Insteon items on the ISY. I'm actually happy I didn't wait for that part to be in stock.
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 1 minute ago, MrBill said: Which information? I've not had trouble with anything else I've tried to buy being out of stock for a year. Smarthome is literally the only company that I see struggling. I placed a large order in China in January for LEDs strips and parts, I worked on the putting the order together with one of their reps over several days and in the friendly conversations I had with them they said "its business as usual" since last summer, and that literally nothing is out of stock. They sell stuff they made as well as parts they've bought from other companies for resale.... sure that is a limited view but 100% of my order was in stock, and she told me literally everything is in-stock now and they have 1000's of items. They got my paypal at like 3am Monday morning Hong Kong time, and by Noon Friday in the US my order was delivered in full via DHL. I don't know of any company with parts that are consistently out of stock like Insteon. Besides what I want to purchase, I read at least the headlines on wapo, nytimes, cnet, cnn, abc, and sometimes wsj everyday. I would any read any articles talking about "the auto industry is suffering because they can't get chips" or any other supply shortage, particularly as it relates to home automation. In fact in other news on the pandemic most countries have recovered far better than the US has. I don't see the major supply problems that you keep mentioning. Another indicator is the stock market... if "big tech" was facing supply chain uncertainty market values would reflect it. It's sad if they did make a mistake like that. It shouldn't be hard to get correct if the part is discontinued. I'm also not sure what "on hold" means exactly. You also seem to get insider information that no one else is privey too... which is great for you and you only. I do get information that others wouldn't be privy too. I'm quite sure you have built personal relationships over the years with people you are in business with as well which helps you in your line of work. Some people such as @Teken and @simplextech i've built closer relationships to on here can vouch for that as well. There are many companies struggling right now to get the silicon chips for their parts. For example, Ive been waiting for 6 months on a warranty swap from LIFX on some light strips. Locally, you cant even find them in stores when they used to be in abundance. Other companies still havent released new product that was supposed to come out last year due to supply constraints. Unfortunately, its a familiar story that im hearing from my suppliers about many different products that will only get worse in time. Unfortunately, with insteon being the only game in town, its much more noticeable since you dont have other options to choose from. On hold means they are focused on the major product lines while supplies are limited to ensure they have enough product that people buy most of. They will be be making more devices, just dont know when.
simplextech Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 5 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: Unfortunately, its a familiar story that im hearing from my suppliers about many different products that will only get worse in time. Unfortunately, with insteon being the only game in town, its much more noticeable since you dont have other options to choose from. I've seen supply issues with many vendors. Want another one that has buzz about discontinued products just look Logitech Harmony and everyone speculating their discontinuing the remotes. Highly unlikely but that's the "rumor" that's being repeated.
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, simplextech said: I've seen supply issues with many vendors. Want another one that has buzz about discontinued products just look Logitech Harmony and everyone speculating their discontinuing the remotes. Highly unlikely but that's the "rumor" that's being repeated. Thats a big one. Its crazy how I can find the 2400 on ebay but struggle to get it from my vendors Edited March 2, 2021 by lilyoyo1 1
carealtor Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 29 minutes ago, MrBill said: @carealtor I love your forum signature, is that new? Couple weeks. ? 1
MrBill Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 I admit logitech is another one I've noted has supply problems, but for the companies, logitech and insteon included, that are struggling and blaming the pandemic I'm not buying the pandemic excuse. Life in China and other parts of the world has largely returned to normal or new normal. There might be issues revolving around price and tariffs, and/or other trade problems created over the last 4 years, however for all the indicators mentioned above I can't see the pandemic as the problem. It may well be that company X can't produce Y because A in another company does it cheaper, but U hasn't figured out how to re-tool. The other part is major news sources are not reporting supply chain problems, those that exist seem limited.
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 17 minutes ago, MrBill said: I admit logitech is another one I've noted has supply problems, but for the companies, logitech and insteon included, that are struggling and blaming the pandemic I'm not buying the pandemic excuse. Life in China and other parts of the world has largely returned to normal or new normal. There might be issues revolving around price and tariffs, and/or other trade problems created over the last 4 years, however for all the indicators mentioned above I can't see the pandemic as the problem. It may well be that company X can't produce Y because A in another company does it cheaper, but U hasn't figured out how to re-tool. The other part is major news sources are not reporting supply chain problems, those that exist seem limited. I'm assuming that means you havent heard about the semi conductor shortage thats going on right now in the world? The same one that has caused auto factories shut down, short supply of PS5, xbox, and other electronic devices.
Teken Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 38 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: I do get information that others wouldn't be privy too. I'm quite sure you have built personal relationships over the years with people you are in business with as well which helps you in your line of work. Some people such as @Teken and @simplextech i've built closer relationships to on here can vouch for that as well. There are many companies struggling right now to get the silicon chips for their parts. For example, Ive been waiting for 6 months on a warranty swap from LIFX on some light strips. Locally, you cant even find them in stores when they used to be in abundance. Other companies still havent released new product that was supposed to come out last year due to supply constraints. Unfortunately, its a familiar story that im hearing from my suppliers about many different products that will only get worse in time. Unfortunately, with insteon being the only game in town, its much more noticeable since you dont have other options to choose from. On hold means they are focused on the major product lines while supplies are limited to ensure they have enough product that people buy most of. They will be be making more devices, just dont know when. Yeah I'll vouch for you only because I don't want to be in the United States one faithful day in the AZ, TX, NV desert and need that tall glass of lemonade! Only for you to watch me sweat it out as you kick back a few cold one's! ? On a more serious note . . . ? Smartlabs for 90% of their tenure has consistently been sh^t in communications. In 2021, they are true to form with respect to offering no feedback to the consumer, enthusiast, or third party vendors. Nothing has changed and thus I don't get amped up over the lack of information as it relates to new hardware, back orders, to company direction. ? ? ? As I have stated before in the past the company since 2004 has tried to consistently release at least one new piece of hardware. There have been years where there were none vs 2011 - 2014 where a hard push was seen. In 2020 there are no less than four FCC filings with respect to new hardware from Smartlabs. In 2021 things may be different for whatever reason(s). But, the company has released said device(s) at some point in time if the same was seen on the FCC website. There's a new multi sensor (SBP-MS01) that looks like an egg . . . ? Maybe that will be the next iteration of the MS II which is half baked . . . Regardless, my views are either Smartlabs continues on their snail like pace or one day we'll all find out the Insteon IP has been sold to someone else - or they will fold. None of us can change how Smartlabs behaves or whether or not they will be successful vs failing. The only thing a reasonable consumer can do is enjoy what you have and replace what you need (IF) and when required. For me I have enough hot spares in stock to replace my home at least 1-3 times depending upon the hardware in place. My long term goal is to migrate away from the consumer level HA protocols like Insteon, Z-Wave, ZigBee, etc. Doing so initially will cost me a hell a lot of money but the long term savings and sanity of *What If* won't ever be running in my head as it was twenty years ago. Life's way to short to worry about things you have absolutely no control over besides where to spend your money. 1
lilyoyo1 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 9 minutes ago, Teken said: Yeah I'll vouch for you only because I don't want to be in the United States one faithful day in the AZ, TX, NV desert and need that tall glass of lemonade! Only for you to watch me sweat it out as you kick back a few cold one's! ? Dont worry I'd share...Only because I might be stuck up there in the Canadian frozen tundra freezing my #$^ off with you watching me bundled up drinking hot chocolate laughing. 1
larryllix Posted March 4, 2021 Posted March 4, 2021 I posted this here previously and it ended up in a completely unrelated thread??? FYI on this topic and defense of @lilyoyo1 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/03/gm-extends-plant-shutdowns-due-to-global-semiconductor-chip-shortage.html?__source=iosappshare|com.apple.UIKit.activity.CopyToPasteboard
smacbride Posted March 4, 2021 Posted March 4, 2021 You can still get the dual on/off outlets, I just installed a bunch in my basement. I think they just discontinued the single version.
gviliunas Posted March 9, 2021 Posted March 9, 2021 Turning this whole discussion around is UDI now debating whether or not to support Insteon on the upcoming ISY on Polisy platform. Although UDI will continue to sell the 994i, I think we will begin hearing the death-knell for Insteon if this is not supported by Polisy. As an Insteon user, I hope SmartHome wakes-up to a growing realization that UDI and UDI customers have a large influence over their fate. " Lead, Follow, or Just get out of the way " 3
lilyoyo1 Posted March 9, 2021 Posted March 9, 2021 2 hours ago, gviliunas said: Turning this whole discussion around is UDI now debating whether or not to support Insteon on the upcoming ISY on Polisy platform. Although UDI will continue to sell the 994i, I think we will begin hearing the death-knell for Insteon if this is not supported by Polisy. As an Insteon user, I hope SmartHome wakes-up to a growing realization that UDI and UDI customers have a large influence over their fate. " Lead, Follow, or Just get out of the way " Not necessarily. For Isy users that are loyal to Udi it is a death knell. However, most of insteons user base actually uses the hub in addition to homeseer and other platforms. 1
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