[OT]Logitech in big financial troubles....sim-racing world in big troubles?!

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by GTClub_wajdi, Jan 24, 2013.

  1. osella

    osella Registered

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    LOL I'm fairly sure I didn't. Have to say though that a big factor in reducing that shifter life was my heavily drunk friend whom I let once play for about 1 hour and most the time he tried to shift in diagonal, not H pattern. Have to admit I was beginner to manual when I bought it. Oherwise it would last me longer, anyway soon after that I could only select 3rd and 5th gear, no other.

    But it surprises me you haven't heard about anyone breaking it. Just google for g25 shifter broke, lots of people complaining it broke by the time warranty ran out. Would be interesting to know how many of are those total beginners, children or regularly intoxicated though lol.

    Recently I made myself happy by buying TH8RS which appears to be really indestructible.
     
  2. Golanv

    Golanv Registered

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    My evolution when it comes to H shifters aswell. I use the G25 shifter as a handbrake these days.

    I dont know does this calibration software work properly without the adapter but worth trying it out.
    Click the "Adjustment software for Windows" to download, no installation required.
     
  3. Flatspotter

    Flatspotter Registered

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    Sad news about Logitech. I'm really glad I upgraded to Fanatec stuff now!
     
  4. osella

    osella Registered

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    ^As others said there isn't really reason to be worried about logitech gaming accessories, I'm sure they will support those products for many more years.
    Would be nice to see G29 in future, this time belt driven, with heavier brake,clutch.

    Golanv how do you use it as ebrake? Does it work just like ordinary button or did you your own mod so you have analog continuous ebrake?
     
  5. coops

    coops Banned

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    well if they do stop making the wheel. i say a few ppl i know will now be looking for another wheel for parts if this happens.
    I own a fanatec but most ppl i know say the g25 /g27 are great wheels, will be a loss to the sim community if they stop producing this product.

    fanatec and thrustmaster must be rubbing there hands together and saying money money money.
     
  6. Golanv

    Golanv Registered

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    At the moment I just use the G25 shifter as a sequantial shifter "button" handbrake, its more fun and practical to use than a button on your wheel. If you want you can mod the shifter to give a decent resistance aswell if you want it to feel more real by using the H shifting mode, which Im planning on doing, or just use the H shifter as "button" handbrake with a function to be able to leave handbrake on. When you pull back it engages the brake and to release you need to return it to "neutral".
    As far as I know theres no mod for making analog handbrake from G25 shifter, if there is Im more than happy to be a guinea pig for the project. :p

    There is this tho, but its not analog either.
     
  7. osella

    osella Registered

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    Pretty sure I saw series of pics how to do analogue but it looked very complicated. At least for me as I don't like to mess with hardware really. But yeah even if it's a digital button it's still better because you can put it into parking position, I'll assign that too in rf..
     
  8. wgeuze

    wgeuze Registered

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    Maybe this will be the katalyst for one or more companies who can bring proper high torque servo motor wheels, like the Bodnar FFB, to the mass market very much reducing it in price :)
     
  9. pay2021

    pay2021 Registered

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    Discontinuing wheels? thats sucks! here in South America we have JUST Logitech, no Fanatec, and a very few Thrustmasters (an they are very expensive), i own a DFGT, the first where broken and they change me for a new one in one day!
    I think im going run to buy a G27, here G25 is vey rare.
    Sad news.
     
  10. Gearjammer

    Gearjammer Registered

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    For those that were wondering how Logitech can give away so many replacements for free, they are not actually free. The business model they use is to produce a % of wheels over expected sales and keep them as backup for when the warranty replacements are required. For pricing they calculate the cost of the extra wheels in and spread it across all the wheels they plan on selling.

    Let's say they figure that they are going to have 15% failure rate and have a production run of 60,000 units at $150 each. They would end up building roughly 69,000 units to allow for replacement, and would need to increase the price of the product by $20 per unit. With those figures they can determine their profit margin and set the final retail price. Everything is paid for this way so there really are no freebies, they are paid for by everyone.
     
  11. Butch Nackley

    Butch Nackley Registered

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    My G25 says Made in China on the bottom sticker. That is how they can do it. They have next to nothing in them to begin with. I really don't know what their cost is, but I'm certain it is very low per unit.
     
  12. osella

    osella Registered

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    Well what ISN'T made in china or taiwan?

    I'm also sure production costs are very low, still think their prices are very fair.
     
  13. 88mphTim

    88mphTim racesimcentral.net

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    Well... the G27 was also a quite simple updated G25 also. I was hoping we'd see something very new soon.

    That said, we don't know yet whether they consider their wheels a 'console peripheral' or not...
     
  14. Golanv

    Golanv Registered

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    -NEWARK, Calif. - April 25, 2012 and MORGES, Switzerland, April 26, 2012

    "I look forward to leading Logitech to improved performance," said Bracken Darrell, Logitech president. "To get back to sustained, profitable growth, we need to be simpler, faster and more consumer-centric. Some of this transformation has already begun, with the management team's work to reinvigorate the product portfolio. We now need to simplify the organization through restructuring. With board approval, I have eliminated a layer of business and sales executive management; the leaders of our business groups and sales regions now report directly to me. In addition, we will consolidate brand management and product portfolio management under the leadership of the business groups, and streamline most other functions. I expect most of this restructuring to be completed by the end of the current quarter, freeing up resources to pursue our growth opportunities. The restructuring should result in a reduction of approximately $80 million in annual operating costs."

    "I believe the organizational streamlining that Bracken is driving is a decisive step for Logitech's future," said Guerrino De Luca, Logitech chairman and chief executive officer. "Looking ahead, I am also excited about what I believe is a strong lineup of new products with a much clearer value proposition to consumers. We expect that increasingly differentiated products will provide strong up-sell opportunities across all of our businesses. The majority of these new products will launch in Q2."

    The company expects to benefit from a stronger product portfolio, the simplification of the organization and processes, and cost savings from the restructuring, resulting in improved financial performance in the second half of Fiscal 2013.

    http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...e4-f10ecfdc5e42/Q1FY13_Prepared_Remarks_1.pdf

    If you dont want to bother with the whole story, scroll down to around halfway for gaming category numbers.
     
  15. F1Fan07

    F1Fan07 Member

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    "The difference between the decline in PC gaming sales and the
    growth in units reflects a mix shift away from steering wheels to lower priced mice,
    keyboards and gamepads."

    Well, that's pretty well the death rattle for Logitech wheels then. Looks like an opening for Fanatec or Thrustmaster to slide in and grab market share.
     
  16. Tarquin

    Tarquin Registered

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    Logitech bought LifeSize in 2009 for $409 Million.... Linky

    With a few years R&D already, I'd be expecting them to be pushing the VoIP and home Desktop Videoconference market in the very near future combining their webcam tech with LifeSize's Videoconference tech....

    Note to self: Go buy G27 when possible - or save pennies for a Fanatec... :p
     
  17. DocJones

    DocJones Registered

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    And I thought the market for sim racing was growing... or do they honestly think more and more people drive racing simulators with mice, keyboards and gamepads nowadays instead of wheels? Of course they don't sell as many steering wheels as they used to! They didn't have any serious business competition back when the DFP, G25 and G27 were introduced. Microsoft had left the market and at that time Fanatec and Thrustmaster had nothing but crappy toys of steering wheels. Thrustmaster and Fanatec have upped their line of wheels in ways nobody would have believed possible 3-4 years ago. Add to that that the G27 was introduced three years ago and the G25 was only produced for 3 years. I hope they see that sales numbers will increase if/when they introduce a new, better product!

    I really hope Logitech continues to offer quality racing wheels for the mass market. I have a G25 that is still working perfectly and had a Wingman Formula and a DFP before that, both only being replaced because I wanted something better, not because they were broken. When the G25 does break one day I would (want to) buy the then available top-of-the-line Logitech wheel without doubt.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 26, 2013
  18. CrashMaster

    CrashMaster Registered

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    Sad sounding news .. I have had my G25 since 2006 and it by far has been one of the better wheels I have owned ... (dating back to the ThrustMaster T1 days)... Because of the quality of the wheel I have a lot of other Logitech brand stuff (keyboards/Mice, remotes).

    Hope they can recover and keep making quality Racing Wheels for us.
     
  19. Golanv

    Golanv Registered

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    I doubt they would stop wheel production, but its possible that they're not cutting the wheel production either right away, since there is many "wheel selling" titles coming out this year that may boost the sales. Merely consolidating and making things more efficient might do the trick for starters.
    As it has been said few times here, that there really isnt anything on the market that can match the price/quality range of DFGT and G27. G27 was released in 2010, and G25 and DFGT at that time was already been existing since december 2007, and they are still holding their own at that price range admirably.
     
  20. rhamm

    rhamm Registered

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    I doubt they'll be making wheels anymore but my hunch could be wrong . I doubt it mainly because of a comment in the linked article below.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ntinue-console-peripherals-to-focus-on-mobile

    On another note, it sounds like they're going to sell their Harmony Remote division.
     

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