Why Apple is finally making its own smart home devices
Apple spent a decade telling partners to build the smart home it wanted. Now it's doing the job itself, and the timing says a lot about how badly the category has underdelivered. The interesting detail here is that Apple brought LG and Schneider Electric along. That's Apple admitting it doesn't know how to make a thermostat or a door lock on its own, a rare concession for a company used to controlling every component.
I'd want to know how deep the LG and Schneider involvement goes, and whether Apple is setting the specs or just slapping its brand on their internals. The HomeView software layer is probably the real product here, the hardware is just how Apple gets a foot in the door of homes it couldn't reach before.
The bigger story is that Apple finally got tired of waiting. The smart home has been a promise for over a decade, and the fragmented mess of protocols and apps has frustrated everyone. Apple's move puts pressure on the whole market, because if Apple can't make a smart home that just works, nobody can. That's the honest measure of where this category stands.