I know with the 5 button switch debacle (been waiting since their launch for my order) that was a costly black eye for Inovelli, it seems like pretty much everything is out of stock all the time these days. I also get that chip shortages and supply chain issues are also contributors but I’m hoping that my favorite Z-Wave company isn’t in any actual trouble (mostly due to the 5 button issue).
My hope is that the company is still rock solid and supplies will return one day! I need to buy another 15+ reds and am still anxious to get my hands on the 5 button switch if it ever makes it to production (will it ever make it?).
I see Inovelli as 10X the switch as most Z-Wave switches out there and like having my house standardized, especially with being able to have so many scenes and control the LED effects for notifications, so fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed they will do well with the expected release of the blue series in the coming months. I know it’s not zwave but I’m hoping it will generate revenue for future zwave products
Owing money to the manufacturer to the point the manufacturer doesn’t want to put any new effort into your products doesn’t sound good to me. We can really only wait and see what happens.
I think in general there is a lack of smart home products because the margins are too low. IMO prices should be at least double what they are. These companies are trying to price things so everyday people will buy them, but the reality is only enthusiasts are interested. Most of the people I know buying zigbee and zwave aren’t shopping price, they’re shopping the item. And then I have friends I’ve tried talking into buying this kind of stuff and they wouldn’t touch it if it were free, they just aren’t interested. That’s my two cents, I could be totally wrong…
I have no doubt that building a Z-Wave device and competing with the cheap Chinese stuff must be challenging. I, for one, always talk up Inovelli in the home automation circles I’m in because they really are excellent devices with an excellent feature set - enough that I’m replacing perfectly good and functioning Z-Wave devices with new Inovelli.
I too agree that Inovelli has features no one else has in 1 switch with the Red Dimmer with multi-tap and the favorites/config button. But, price does play a part in it. There is some point beyond which people won’t pay. (That’s why Lutron’s Caseta is so popular vs. say their RA).
I’ve never worked for a retail company so I don’t know how to systematically price these things, but I’m guessing it is my some kind of survey method. I certainly hope they aren’t just saying: Well, it costs us X so X + Y bucks sounds good enough.
I recently came across your product and liked what I saw I look forward to purchasing several items when they become available again Honestly I prefer to buy from and support american companies knowing that there is a quality level there that far exceeds the foreign knockoffs