Philips He is preparing to launch the new line of Smart bulbs Essential, which promises to make the Hue system more accessible in the homes of Italians. According to the rumors collected by Hue blogstill to be confirmed by the company, the new products should be announced in September with significantly lower prices than the current range.
What should be the characteristics of the new Essential
For the moment, what we can guess we owe it to the images leaked online, which they show bulbs with E27 and Gu10 attacksthe latter mainly used for directional spotlights and track lighting. The brightness of the Essential appears comparable to that of current Hue Entry-Levels, while the design of the Gu10 has obvious differences compared to the existing models.
An aspect that emerges from the images is also the absence of explicit indicators for the support of Google Home and Alexa. However, this could simply be due to the preliminary character of the widespread images and, therefore, nothing excludes that the support can be predictably included in the definitive version of the product.
How the new Essential bulbs will be sold
The new Essential bulbs should also be sold both individually and in “Value Pack” Which will include the original Hue Bridge instead of the new Hue Bridge Pro that is talked about in recent releases spread online.
If this were the case, everything would suggest that Philips is positioning the Essential line as an entry point in the Hue ecosystem for consumers more attentive to the price, making them a bearer of its entry-level supply model.
Times and prices are still all to be deciphered
The indiscretion then suggests that Philips should officially reveal the Essential bulbs together with other new products in early September. However, it is still unclear as it actually cheap These new options will be, because the announcements translated so far leave room for different interpretations, considering that the current Hue bulbs have prices that many consumers consider high.
In any case, it is clear that – at a strategic level – the introduction of the Essential line is One response to the growing competition in the Smart bulbs sectorwith brands such as Lifx, TP-Link Kasa and products compatible with zigbee that have been offering cheaper alternatives for some time. Philips could therefore try to maintain its dominant position without completely cannibalize the existing premium range, through the launch of a medium cost range.
It remains to be seen if the reduction of costs will involve significant compromises in terms of functionality, construction quality or integration with the Hue ecosystem. The next few weeks should provide every answer.
