midrar Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 (edited) Any updates with the status of Insteon? Common parts such as switchlinc’s and outletlinc’s continue to be sold out. When they come back in stock, it’s only for a couple weeks. I don’t want to hear that it’s COVID related because most businesses have restarted their shops in June. Edited January 7, 2021 by midrar
larryllix Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 It likely is COVID related as everything must move more slowly, whether people are working or not. Most of our businesses are closed and only services deemed "essential" are allowed to function. The rest are collecting compensation pay and sitting at home. If you are caught out you may be fined or face jail time.
midrar Posted January 7, 2021 Author Posted January 7, 2021 5 hours ago, larryllix said: It likely is COVID related as everything must move more slowly, whether people are working or not. Most of our businesses are closed and only services deemed "essential" are allowed to function. The rest are collecting compensation pay and sitting at home. If you are caught out you may be fined or face jail time. While how unfortunate COVID is, I hope that is the case. I’ve been a long time supporter of Insteon and I hope they don’t go under. 1
Brian H Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 COVID seems to be effecting many things. I suspect part of the problem is the Chinese factory's making the Insteon product as a big part of the issue. Even the USPS is having issues. According to the information on their main web page. I have had things like first class mail take 14 days from NJ to my home in CT and magazines delivered after their TV listings where for last week and useless to me now.
lilyoyo1 Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 7 hours ago, midrar said: Any updates with the status of Insteon? Common parts such as switchlinc’s and outletlinc’s continue to be sold out. When they come back in stock, it’s only for a couple weeks. I don’t want to hear that it’s COVID related because most businesses have restarted their shops in June. While you may not want to hear it, that doesn't stop Covid from effecting things. It's still here, making tens of thousands sick and killing thousands. The stuff you purchase may be found in your area but that doesn't mean it's the same across the country or the world. China (where devices are made) still has partial shutdowns in areas. This can affect not only things being made but shipping from factories to ports. Once here, sick/out of work dock workers slows down ships being unloaded and shipping to end destinations. This can be seen at many best buys. Pre-Covid, you'd find hue,lifx and other brands of lighting on their shelves. Not so much now. My lifx strip went bad back at the end of Sept. It's now January and I'm still waiting on my warranty replacement. Every month I get an email with them apologizing for the delay etc etc. I could go on and on with many more examples but that's enough. Unfortunately Covid is still a thing and will be for quite some time. Insteon will be fully stocked again at some point. 2
larryllix Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 Any packages that come through our mail service sit in a warehouse for up to three days for some reason and then when they are delivered have a fine powder that has been sprayed on them. I suspect they sit until a large enough quantity of packages get them a discount on quantity of anti-viral spray they get sprayed with. Right now I have found I get packages shipped from China faster than any packages from the USA, into Canada. China claims they have no wild COVID19 cases any more.
Geddy Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 Additionally, you've got to consider you're not in this alone. I suspect that many that were just starting or expanding their home automations before Covid shut the world down need devices too. Compound that with many of us that are now working from home and have more times to think of things we want to automate that we're buying some more devices (as budget and time allow). @lilyoyo1 points out great parts about the logistics of what's happening. Container shipments from Asia are insane right now. The congestion in the North American ports as well as inland ports is insane. While Covid is certainly the underlying condition it's still the usual supply & demand of economics. @larryllix your situation is probably that the postoffice/warehouse considers the 3 day time for any virus on surface to die/not be active, and the "powder" is probably the residue of any fogging the warehouse might perform to try to kill any surface germs. 1
MrBill Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 3 hours ago, larryllix said: Right now I have found I get packages shipped from China faster than any packages from the USA, into Canada. China claims they have no wild COVID19 cases any more. I concur, I placed an order over last weekend with https://superlightingled.com/ it shipped almost immediately, and is scheduled to be delivered via DHL tomorrow. Granted that's only one chinese company, but Smarthome has been out of stock for more than 9 months on hidden door sensors, over the summer when I contacted them they blamed Covid making it difficult to get parts from China.
larryllix Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 (edited) 26 minutes ago, MrBill said: I concur, I placed an order over last weekend with https://superlightingled.com/ it shipped almost immediately, and is scheduled to be delivered via DHL tomorrow. Granted that's only one chinese company, but Smarthome has been out of stock for more than 9 months on hidden door sensors, over the summer when I contacted them they blamed Covid making it difficult to get parts from China. Yeah. It took me almost two months to get my Rev2.6 PLM from aartech.ca. It was a good thing my 7 year old original wasn't bad. I was sure it was the last round of problems I had. Turns out it was ISY bogging down from attempts to update devices that will not take updates. SwitchLinc Dimmers that wouldn't update, and bog down ISY caching, without being in linking mode, was a new one for me. ...but now I have a Rev2.6 PLM for a spare. Not looking forward to that whole day process I need to go through to swap it in, before the warranty expires. Edited January 7, 2021 by larryllix
Goose66 Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 None of this explains the lack of any news, announcements, new products, etc. out of Insteon/Smarthome in almost 2 years after Rob Lilleness's comments in first half of 2019. It could just easily have been decided that the whole product line was to be discontinued by they don't want to announce it until all of the inventory and contracted pipeline of existing products has been exhausted.
lilyoyo1 Posted January 7, 2021 Posted January 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Goose66 said: None of this explains the lack of any news, announcements, new products, etc. out of Insteon/Smarthome in almost 2 years after Rob Lilleness's comments in first half of 2019. It could just easily have been decided that the whole product line was to be discontinued by they don't want to announce it until all of the inventory and contracted pipeline of existing products has been exhausted. When have they ever made announcements before products came out? Outside of the people with connections there or beta testers letting something slip, we've generally found out about new products from fcc filings
Techman Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 A while back there was a FCC filing for a new PLM, (2234-223), but it seems to have been pulled. There's a few new switches and a some type of gateway that currently show on the FCC site. Not sure if they will ever see the light of day. It's sad that there's been nothing in the way of Smarthome newsletters or press releases for quite some time. A lot of devices have been discontinued, but nothing new for several years. 2
larryllix Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 4 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said: When have they ever made announcements before products came out? Outside of the people with connections there or beta testers letting something slip, we've generally found out about new products from fcc filings Would Insteon announce they were closing up the product line or going bankrupt? Major companies have made announcement hours before declaring bankruptcy that everything was doing great, until they sell off all their stock shares. Talk is cheap, either way.
lilyoyo1 Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, larryllix said: Would Insteon announce they were closing up the product line or going bankrupt? Major companies have made announcement hours before declaring bankruptcy that everything was doing great, until they sell off all their stock shares. Talk is cheap, either way. You do realize Insteon is located in OC California dont you? The very place where covid has gotten so bad, the region will not bring you to the hospital if you dont have a pulse (if they can't revive you on site) because of maxed out hospitals. Since Its hard to find LIFX bulbs and strips in local bestbuys and i'm on month 4 of waiting for a warranty replacement, should I assume LIFX is going out of business? Or how about the fact that after 2 months, the laundry detergent we prefer still isnt in stock at the Targets and walmarts locally. Should I assume Tide is going out of business because certain products still arent in stock? Or the fact that finding lysol locally is like finding a needle in a haystack so the maker must be shutting down too? This just shows how ridiculous conversations like this is DURING A PANDEMIC. When things are back to normal and record numbers aren't In regards to your question; I think they would announce only so they can maximize how much they can sell in regards to insteon before closing up shop. Either way we'd never know until that time came. In regards to reality, history says this is simply how they operate. Its a poor way but its still how they operate. The fact that they still get stuff in also says they are in business. Edited January 8, 2021 by lilyoyo1
simplextech Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 12 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said: maximize how much they can sell in regards to insteon before closing up shop. This reminds me of NYC. All of the shops in times square and around broadway all the way up to 10th are all "going of business".... LOL yeah... right. Total marketing tactic to the tourists!
lilyoyo1 Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) 4 minutes ago, simplextech said: This reminds me of NYC. All of the shops in times square and around broadway all the way up to 10th are all "going of business".... LOL yeah... right. Total marketing tactic to the tourists! There's a business near a friend's house like that too. Its had one of those clearance signs saying "going out of business" on it for the last 2 years. ? Edited January 8, 2021 by lilyoyo1 1
asbril Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 8 minutes ago, simplextech said: This reminds me of NYC. All of the shops in times square and around broadway all the way up to 10th are all "going of business".... LOL yeah... right. Total marketing tactic to the tourists! I have not been to NYC for 2 years but I hear that many companies are really going out of business, or in some cases moving elsewhere. NYC businesses are not in a good shape, and that was already before Covid. Also, lately we see many cars with NY and NJ plates here in South Florida.
simplextech Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 41 minutes ago, asbril said: I have not been to NYC for 2 years but I hear that many companies are really going out of business, or in some cases moving elsewhere. NYC businesses are not in a good shape, and that was already before Covid. Also, lately we see many cars with NY and NJ plates here in South Florida. I'm sure some of them are going out of business. Especially now. Yet a few years ago when I lived up there for almost a year it was a joke that everyone laughed about.
lilyoyo1 Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 21 minutes ago, simplextech said: I'm sure some of them are going out of business. Especially now. Yet a few years ago when I lived up there for almost a year it was a joke that everyone laughed about. It was like that as a kid growing up in Nj. Same places were still there as a young adult when I would go visit 1
keepersg Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 Got notified that the serial PLM was in stock. Ordered it. It will be here today, a week after I ordered it. I'm in Oregon and Smarthome orders have always arrived in two days previous to the pandemic which,I'm sure, is slowing everything way down. The situation in CA (and elsewhere is tragic). There will soon be a million cases in LA by itself and already more than 10,000 deaths there. The healthcare system (I'm in healthcare but fortunately in Oregon) in LA is completely overwhelmed and EMT crews have protocols that require them to not transport patients with little chance of survival to hospitals. I'm surprised that any business can still function there. Puts home automation in perspective. Things will be getting much worse over the next 8 weeks. Stay safe.
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