Logitech is looking into premium ‘forever mice’ and new subscription software

Logitech’s new CEO Hanneke Faber is flirting with the idea of selling the company’s popular computer mice via a new business model — a ‘forever mouse’ tied to a subscription service.

Faber expressed her interest in the concept during a recent interview with The Verge’s Nilay Patel on the Decoder show, where she went into some brief detail.

In essence, the ‘forever mouse’ business model would involve selling a more premium mouse to consumers, which would be built well enough to endure a lifetime of use. From there, monetization would come in the form of a recurring subscription-based service, which would unlock an evolving suite of software and regularly released updates.

When describing the physicality of a prototype mouse, Faber compares it to a nice watch: “This is a nice watch, not a super expensive watch, but I’m not planning to throw that watch away ever. So why would I be throwing my mouse or my keyboard away if it’s a fantastic-quality, well-designed, software-enabled mouse.”

Another benefit to switching away from the traditional hardware upgrade cycle model, according to Faber, is the positive environmental impact it would have. Specifically, the company has lofty plans to reduce its carbon footprint in half, and pivoting to this sort of updated business model would aid in this goal. Naturally, it would also reduce the total amount of e-waste out there.

During the interview, Faber emphasized that the ‘forever mouse’ concept is still in its conceptual phase, saying: “We’ll have to obviously fix it and figure out what that business model is. We’re not at the forever mouse today, but I’m intrigued by the thought.”

The era of subscription-based services roars on

How consumers might react to a ‘forever mouse’ business model is entirely up in the air

Braden Newell/Pocket-lint

We’re living in an age where it seems nearly impossible to escape monthly and yearly subscription services, across both the tech and the entertainment industries. Consumer fatigue is a very real and growing sentiment.

It’s unclear if consumers will take well to the concept of perpetually paying for computer mouse software, and I’d wager that Logitech has an uphill battle with this one. That’s especially true considering the company already offers a free software solution in the form of Logi Options.

So long as the mouse hardware itself is usable without a subscription service — albeit likely without many of the software perks — I can envision a future in which the concept takes off. If successful, it’d likely only be a matter of time before other computer peripheral manufacturers introduce similar paid services of their own.

If Logitech can convince users that its software suite and regular feature updates are worth the investment, the company may have a winner on its hands. This would, of course, be predicated on the revenue generated by the subscription model actually being invested in bettering the software side of the equation.

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