Schneider to acquire Shelly

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wellygary

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#325622 24-Sep-2026 19:08

The start of smart homes going mainstream?
Or selling out to “the man” and the start of it all going down hill for one of the pioneers?

https://www.eqs-news.com/news/corporate/shelly-group-has-entered-into-an-investment-agreement-with-schneider-electric-on-the-intended-voluntary-public-takeover-supported-by-the-founders/5c2294cd-ca50-4785-b03a-841c243a6092_en

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3530589 24-Sep-2026 19:59

Likely the latter.

We can look forward to price rises, fewer integration options, vendor lock-in and the eventual demise of both the Shelly name and whatever products this takeover brings.

Nate001

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#3530590 24-Sep-2026 20:08

Shame to be the beginning of the end. You’d think a company worth $1bn would be somewhat self sufficient and immune from these buyouts.

KevlarCoated

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#3530593 24-Sep-2026 20:22

The products were getting pretty expensive for what they were. A esp32+relay should be buildable with 5-10USD depending on how cost optimized you go. AUNZ RCM testing is around 10k according the to the Internet. If you can sell a couple of thousand if of them in NZ and Australia you good undercut what shelly was charging, you could probably even build them in NZ for that price although I've never looked at NZ SMT pricing

Handle9

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#3530620 25-Sep-2026 00:13

Nate001:

Shame to be the beginning of the end. You’d think a company worth $1bn would be somewhat self sufficient and immune from these buyouts.

It's not all that big and when you get to a certain point the numbers don't work with R&D investment vs return unless you have truly global distribition. Shelly have been publicly listed for a long time and have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders.

Schneider are very good at manufacturing and go to market at scale. I think it's probably a very good acquisition for them.

Disclaimer: I work for a direct competitor of Schneider.

Handle9

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#3530621 25-Sep-2026 00:16

KevlarCoated:

The products were getting pretty expensive for what they were. A esp32+relay should be buildable with 5-10USD depending on how cost optimized you go. AUNZ RCM testing is around 10k according the to the Internet. If you can sell a couple of thousand if of them in NZ and Australia you good undercut what shelly was charging, you could probably even build them in NZ for that price although I've never looked at NZ SMT pricing

Product manufacturing cost is not the same as running a corporation with global distribution and compliance costs. Having taken a system through New Zealand compliance the costs are eye opening compared to the net margins involved.

Handle9

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#3530622 25-Sep-2026 00:24

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Likely the latter.

We can look forward to price rises, fewer integration options, vendor lock-in and the eventual demise of both the Shelly name and whatever products this takeover brings.

That's not really what happened with Clipsal or PDL, among other aquisitions. It's been 25 years since Schneider bough PDL and the brand is still around.

It might do but I suspect this isn't the direction they will take it. Wiser is Zigbee based, and they have pretty much abandoned C-bus in favour of it, so I think they are going more in the semi-open system direction. I could well be wrong though.