Simplisafe is 'Blowing The Doors Off'
Author: John Honovich, Published on Feb 17, 2017
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Comments (17)
Armando Perez
One note... They do have a contract, they just dont require it. if you do the optional monitoring, you are most certainly under a very binding and liability limiting contract. Just because its listed as a "terms of service" and approved with a click instead of a signature makes it no less a contract.
Impressive performance financially nonetheless, even if they are equally less than truthful as the alarm companies they love to vilify.
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Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
300,000 American Homes Open To Hacks Of 'Unfixable' SimpliSafe Alarm
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Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Well, I too can care less about the "attack".
What caught my eyes in Forbes's article was this: "SimpliSafe has also installed a one-time programmable chip in its alarm, meaning there's no chance of an over-the-air update. It means there's no patch coming, leaving all owners without a remedy other than to stop using the equipment, Zonenberg said."
A security system without firmware upgrade capability ? Did I read that right?
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Undisclosed End User #2
Physical security is all about multiple layers of security... I was concerned about my SimpliSafe system being less than fully secure, so I layered my home's DYI security with Canary, Arlo, Glock, etc.
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Undisclosed #3
I'd like to vote to forever ban the use of the phrase 'Blowing The Doors Off'
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Undisclosed Integrator #6
I think the problem with simplisafe is that it's sort of a one trick disruption pony. Where do they pivot to and how do they move upstream? All they've successfully done is driven down alarm margins in the b2c space where the consumers already were fickle and the competition was pretty rough with the national players a la vivint / adt. I'm not sure simplisafe has eaten a ton of the profitable lunch of local/regional dealers though as much of what simplisafe has taken over in the market is lower end/smaller homes. Sort of the 80/20 rule.
I don't know what the simplisafe product pricing is out of taiwan/china, but they are still going through the cellular carriers even if at wholesale rates per line. So their 15 a month plus what the lower end of the whole sale cost is ($2 per account) the gross profit is probably somewhere around $11 a month per active user. They spend a balls ton on advertising everywhere which is fueling the majority of their growth. I can't say they are growing organically without their huge VC injection.
I should mention that the manufacturers and regional companies are already pivoting to combat simplisafe a la DMP's DIY portal for dealers and many dealers having on site shopping carts now with security packages you can customize.
[Note: See DMP OnDemand Monitoring and Company Store Fights Back Against DIY Alarms]
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Charisse Allen
Can a Simply Safe system be monitored by any Central Station? Or just a Simply Safe Central Station? If you sell a system that can only be monitored by your central station....why would you ever need to lock in your customer.
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