Name: Google’s Smart Home Division Might Be in Trouble
Uploaded: 2016-06-06
Duration: 2 min 32 s
Description: After its top executive left the company

[ SOUND ] iPod godfather Tony Fadell is out at Nest, Google's Smart Home division. Robert, is this a sign of more trouble at the company? This is a sign of big trouble. Big, big trouble, Andrew. [ LAUGH ] I mean look, Alphabet issued this news late on a Friday, that's never a good sign. No. Also, this is coming in the wake of a bunch of other executive departures. Former Apple veterans like Fadell himself all Fleeing the coop. You know Alphabet has said that this has been in the works for a while now, it's been for months and he's gonna remain on as a advisor, but from an outsiders perspective looking in, this does not look good for Nest .>> Well that's glass half empty, I'm a glass half full kind of guy. I'm looking for the silver lining in. I think this is a great change. Look, you remember when Nest came out, right? Nest products where like Apple, right? They were really intuitive, well designed, sure clean, and crisp. At a time when the Smart home was a gadgety Connecty [ SOUND ] mess. This was really simple stuff, right, easy to use. When Google acquired it, Nest became, you know, a place where you can get a buggy product. It became, internally, a dumping ground for smart home talent. None of this was good. So I think this change gives Nest an opportunity to reset. No way. It does not. I mean, yeah they have an opportunity to reset, but I think it's too late to turn this ship around. Look at Google. They recently launched another connected home product I think named Google Home. Right. And this fell outside of the [ UNKNOWN ] vision. That does not seam like a vote of confidence for the future of the company. Well, that's true. But again, this was our wonderful day. Right. Nothing is gonna change here. Look. Focus on the smart home market, right? Things have changed. When that first came out, it's probably the only company you could even remember the name of. That was in the smart home business. Now, what's the number one product on everybody's lips? What is it, Amazon Echo, right? Amazon Echo, sure. Powered by Alexa. Everybody loves this thing. They stick it in their kitchens, their living rooms, whatever. I think the smart home itself has become more embraced by the average consumer. We can't forget the Nest is still a powerful place. It's got a lot of potential, there are a lot of talented people there. Even setting aside its Google ownership It's really one of the all encompassing smart home companies. If it can get its act together, this is good news. If it can get its act together, but right now Amazon has come in with Amazon Echo. People are obsessed with it. They love the product. Against everybody's expectations and Google has yet to show that Google Home can compete. Google is a software company, they're not a hardware company. So I don't know about the future of Nest, not looking good if you ask me. That's a fair point. For one show that's home to smart takes, come to Fortune. com for more Tech Debate. [ MUSIC ]