Savant plans to extend into the mass market, as the race for the brand that can really open up the home automation market increases.
Once linked solely with high-end home automation based entirely on Apple's Mac operating systems, at CEDIA 2013 the company demonstrated Wi-Fi-connected light switches and keypads, as well prototype Linux controllers-- steps that Savant hopes will tap into a wider market.
Now, in 2014, the next steps: first, this spring Savant will launch a more affordable Linux-based home automation system.
And second, they've hired a new CEO to take them to the mass market. Of course, Savant's vision of a mass market is more like BMW's vision for the BMW 3 Series...more upper mid-level than the really low end consumer market.
The man they've chosen to do it: former Barnes & Noble CEO William J. Lynch as CEO.
“William’s history of success with breakthrough product innovation, and his proven ability to connect consumers with sophisticated, yet easy-to-use technology in a meaningful way, make him ideally suited to lead Savant Systems through this period of unprecedented opportunity and tremendous growth,” says Robert Madonna, Savant’s founder (and CEO since 2005). Madonna will remain chairman of the board.
Madonna was also quoted saying “He [Lynch] can bring complicated technology to the consumer and simplify it. That is at the heart of home automation.”
The background that Savant is not sharing is that Lynch didn't "leave" Barnes & Noble in mid-2013: he was pushed out. Headlines read "Chief Leaves Barnes & Noble After Losses on E-Readers..."
Lynch "resigned" two weeks after a devastating earnings report (the Nook unit had EBITDA losses of $177 million in his last quarter) that highlighted a losing battle against Amazon and others.
Barnes & Noble has been in talks about separating the digital and retail and Microsoft a potential buyer (last year it invested hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire 17.6% of the division).
Management at Barnes & Noble seemed irked at Lynch's lack of interest in the bookstore business and Lynch was accused of spending too much time in Silicon Valley. Lynch had joined Barnes & Noble with no previous experience in bookselling.
Lynch was, however, fluent in e-commerce and technology and did help Barnes & Noble introduce its first Nook e-reader.
To some, Lynch had performed a small miracle, creating a product that provided an alternative to the already dominant Amazon’s Kindle.
The Nook was initially successful as Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 retail stores allowed potential customers to see and touch what they were buying (unlike the experience at Amazon).
Now, only months after Lynch's departure, Nook sales fell off a cliff for the holiday, down 60%.
The morale of this story is that the place where Savant is going...the step out of the luxury market can be more traumatic than imagined. The green always looks easier from the other side.
Clearly Lynch is a high tech buff and home automation is a clear action call these days for Silicon Valley. But does he bring the right type of experience to the smaller step down-market Savant wants to take?
Lynch may have less of a BMW 2 Series experience than a Honda Accord one. Will Lynch's enthusiasm lead Savant too quickly into the morass of real consumer electronics? Or will Lynch be The One who finally cracks the mass market for home automation?
Savant also offers automation technologies in commercial sectors as enterprise, retail, education, arenas, government, hospitality and luxury transportation. Can the limited resources of Savant support a twin business push or will their commercial initiative wither as Lynch pushes the pedal to the metal for consumer products? Will Savant commercial feel the equivalent of the Barnes & Noble bookstore neglect?
Getting "Lynch-ed" in 2014 will either be a great success-- or leave Savant hanging.
