Logitech CEO Says ‘You’re Going To Really Love’ Not Owning A Computer Mouse And Paying For A Subscription To Use It

Hanneke Faber, the CEO of computer and tech company Logitech, announced a new business model that would charge customers a subscription fee to lease the use of their computer mouse in a plan that is touted as cutting carbon emissions.

Faber detailed her plans for what she calls the “forever mouse” on The Verge’s Decoder podcast. The tech show noted that Faber is ‘a longtime executive with an extensive background in consumer goods at conglomerates like Unilever and Procter & Gamble.’

Faber discussed how, like so many companies since the initial wave of record profits and production caused by the lockdowns, Logitech’s sales have understandably tapered. After the previous CEO decided to step down last year, Faber emphasized the need to stay on course by hitting emissions reduction targets by 50%.

“I’m a big believer that you have to make a few changes if you want to get, in our case, even better results, a little faster growth with the same margins, and not unimportantly, reduce that carbon footprint by 50 percent,” she said.

The Logitech CEO later revealed the company is working on this so-called “forever mouse” that is much better built and lasts longer, but customers would pay for a subscription to use it rather than just buy and own it outright.

Here is what the interviewer Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, and Faber said during the podcast:

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Patel: The CTO of John Deere once told me that John Deere has more software engineers than hardware engineers because it has to support the ongoing service and cloud capabilities of the tractor. This makes a little more sense for Logitech, but really what we’re talking about is an ongoing cost. You sell me the keyboard once. It’s got Options Plus. It has an AI button. I push the button, and someone has to make sure the software still works. Someone probably has to pay ChatGPT for access to the service. Where is that going to come from? Are you baking that into the margin of the keyboard or the mouse?

Faber: Absolutely. We’re baking that in, and I’m not particularly worried about that. What I’m actually hoping is that this will contribute to the longevity of our products, that we’ll have more premium products but products that last longer because they’re superior and because we can continue to update them over time. And again, I talked about doubling the business and reducing the carbon footprint by half. The longevity piece is really important.

I’m very intrigued. The other day, in Ireland, in our innovation center there, one of our team members showed me a forever mouse with the comparison to a watch. This is a nice watch, not a super expensive watch, but I’m not planning to throw that watch away ever. So why would I be throwing my mouse or my keyboard away if it’s a fantastic-quality, well-designed, software-enabled mouse. The forever mouse is one of the things that we’d like to get to.

Patel: What made the mouse a forever mouse?

Faber: It was a little heavier, it had great software and services that you’d constantly update, and it was beautiful. So I don’t think we’re necessarily super far away from that.

Patel: But, again, I just come back to the cost. You sell me the mouse once. Maybe I’ll pay 200 bucks for it.

Faber: The business model obviously is the challenge there. So then software is even more important when you think about it. Can you come up with a service model? In our video conferencing business, that is now a very important part of the model, the services, and it’s critical for corporate customers.

Patel: Let’s come to that in a second because that makes sense to me. You sell managed services to enterprises. You price support contracts for cameras and whatever. That’s an ongoing need businesses have. I’m still stuck on, “You’re going to sell me a mouse once and it’s going to have ongoing software updates forever.”

Faber: Imagine it’s like your Rolex. You’re going to really love that.

Patel: But Rolex has to employ software engineers to ship me over-the-air updates forever.

Faber: But the artifact is like your Rolex, and then given that we know the technology that we attach to changes, it’s not going to be like your Rolex in that it doesn’t have to ever change. Our stuff will have to change, but does the hardware have to change? I’m not so sure. We’ll have to obviously fix it and figure out what that business model is. We’re not at the forever mouse today, but I’m intrigued by the thought.

Patel: It certainly will help with sustainability. There are two ways people have traditionally proposed monetizing hardware over time. It’s subscription fees and it’s advertising. Is there a third way that I don’t know about that you’re thinking of?

Faber: No. The third way is the traditional model of “we innovate and we have you upgrade.” That’s the current model. And we’re pretty damn good at that model because we have pretty damn good innovators around the company who do come up with fabulous products. 

That is definitely the model today. It’s not a bad model at all, especially since we’re continuing to design for more sustainable products. We’re continuing to recycle and refurbish products. All of that is good. But that said, I am intrigued by a forever mouse or forever video conferencing solution that you just update with software and create a business model around that.

Patel: I’m going to ask this very directly. Can you envision a subscription mouse?

Faber: Possibly.

Patel: And that would be the forever mouse?

Faber: Yeah.

Patel: So you pay a subscription for software updates to your mouse.

Faber: Yeah, and you never have to worry about it again, which is not unlike our video conferencing services today.

Patel: But it’s a mouse.

Faber: But it’s a mouse, yeah.

Patel: I think consumers might perceive those to be very different. 

Faber: [Laughs] Yes, but it’s gorgeous. Think about it like a diamond-encrusted mouse.

Patel: You mentioned AI earlier. You have rolled out some of the AI features in the new versions of Options Plus. There is a mouse with an AI button.

Faber: Actually, sorry, Nilay. I am going to give you just a little piece of information. So the mouse built this house. Is that a traditional category? Will it go away? Is it old and tired? We don’t believe so because only about 50 percent of people use a mouse and a keyboard today, a separate keyboard.

Some only have a mouse or only a keyboard, but many of them have both. But the thing that shocked me was that the average spend on that globally is $26, which is really so low. This is stuff you use every day, that sits on your desk every day, that you look at every day. That’s like the price of four coffees at Starbucks or less than a Nike running shirt. There is so much room to create more value in that space as we make people more productive — to extend human potential.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Haven’t you heard: “You’ll own nothing and be happy” by 2030.

Faber spilled the beans on what this is all about, what it was always about: it’s about making as much money as they possibly can. This has nothing to do with carbon emissions; it’s plain-down greed. Logitech, like so many others, has seen sales go down because of the buying panic seen in 2020-2021 due to lockdowns and stimmie checks; and these corrupt people are so greedy for more money they are going to make a subscription out of literally everything, including something so basic as a computer mouse.

That’s the world we live in; and these companies are playing their part in ushering in this neo-fascist-communist system: the corporations and the banks are in control, they make and control all the money, products and services; while the masses are living communes and 15-minute cities, owning nothing, and receiving universal basic income and food rations: while the few at the top attempt to make infinite money – money that does not even exist, it’s just code on a screen.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. [16] He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Fortune reported that this is just the latest company to turn basic products into a subscription:

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Faber’s mouse-as-a-service concept is the latest example of the increasing prevalence of subscription-based business models in unusual categories. While customers may be used to paying a subscription for movie or music streaming, now hardware companies are trying to get in on the trend. 

HP introduced a subscription service in February that lets customers print 20 pages on their included printer and ink starting at $6.99 per month. Both Ring and Google have also recently raised prices for basic subscription plans for their smart doorbells and thermostats, respectively.

Some customers have already decried Logitech’s idea of adding yet another subscription for an everyday object. One user on Twitter said there is no need for a “forever mouse,” because their mouse from 30 years ago has held up just fine. 

Other social media users on the r/hardware forum on Reddit poked fun at the idea that Logitech might go the way of HP’s printer plan and limit use.

“[N]umber of mouse movement[s] exceeded. [P]lease upgrade to pro account so you can further move your mouse,” one user wrote.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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