Quirky Files for Bankruptcy

Wink to highest bidder.

0.01 cents! and of course @pd_ , you pay the shipping! :wink: I want to destroy all of them which are in existence. Feeling very destructive today.

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Ha! I’m actually enjoying running both right now. Wink is doing a great job with Hues, Nest and Lutron, and ST is controlling Sonos events.

The announcement says that Wink will continue to operate as normal, and they already have a bidder.

Hey, the best idea to get top dollars is post it on the thread where people are moaning, whining and threatening to leave ST 'coz of v2 shipping and blue/green light syndrome! Some of these guys may be serious. Who knows? :wink:

I think they have to say that to keep everyone from jumping ship. I’m sure the number of users will factor in the selling price.

@pd_ I feel so stupid! I totally misunderstood you. I thought you were selling your Wink and was the intent of the thread
 Oops!

Yes, the buyer can do with it as they please. The forums are already ablaze with people fearing a subscription service is on the way. I don’t think any potential buyer would think that a good idea. Wink is the wrong market.

@smart Yeah, my post heading was vague. I’m hoping to find some great deals on eBay for people fearing their Relay will soon be worthless. Even if Wink dies I will bust it with openHAB or some other method for local control.

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I wouldn’t bet on that. Of course they’ll say it, what choice do they have? They’re still trying to sell this dud. Do you think they’re going to tell you “sorry, we’ve already laid off all developers and most support staff and we cannot build any more hardware because no one will sell us components or otherwise do any kind of business with us without prepayment?”

The problem with Wink is that, just like SmartThings, it’s cloud based. So if the servers are shut down it’s as good as a boat anchor (although it’s probably too light for that). If it were a stand-alone device, you’d still be able to use it.

people fearing a subscription service is on the way.

Who in their right mind would pay a monthly fee for the privilege of using Wink? Personally, I’d only consider using it if they would pay me $10 a month. :smile:

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Gasp! :worried: :wink:

Makes me wonder whatever happened to this pile of Winks: :smile:

This is a good opportunity as it is a very cold shower for the future of ST. Opportunity to gain a few more full time customers and a very cold shower that full time customers will bring the ship down if you don’t deliver, regardless of who your big partners are!!!

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Quirky’s problems were much much bigger than Wink.

Wink was an opportunity to survive and, frankly, might be the remaining part of the business with any value. Greater penetration than SmartThings at the moment, so, heck, someone actually smart could make it work.

I was just thinking about that post geko!!! haha.

I got a wink hub for free in that promotion. I still have it, I never even opened the box.

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Wink ran out of money before the rest of the company did, that’s why they were looking to drop it a few months ago. Even Kaufman said back in July “On the Wink side, it doesn’t make any money and it became complicated, and complicated stories are hard to get financed,”

ST got financed, right? :wink:

That’s all theory. Projects like this, developed by fast-paced startups, usually without any formal design documentation are next to impossible to transplant to a different development team. Once the original core developers are gone, it becomes a “black box” that nobody knows how to support.

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I believe ST was extremely lucky they got bought out. No one in the Smart Home business is making any money (well, maybe Philips does). But even under Samsung’s wing they cannot lose money forever. Samsung is not shy to axe the projects that they believe have run out of steam.

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How quickly and how demanding will Samsung’s products feature Smart Home capabilities?

Typically, R&D cycle runs for two years (my first-hand experience). Then the execs will decide if it’s a ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ for mass production. Rarely a project may get a 6 to 12 month extension. I have not seen any R&D projects that lasted more than 3 years.

When Samsung acquired ST in 2014, they said every TV they sell will have SmartThings built-in by 2017. Which means that technology is expected to be ready for mass production by the end of 2016 (i.e. two years after acquisition.) So, this is my yardstick: if Samsung fails to announce SmartThings-enabled TV at 2017 CES, then SmartThings is likely toast.

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Tick tick tick
 :alarm_clock:

We have our first entrant into the SmartThings doomsday pool. Anymore bets?